Casual vacancies can also occur in non-governmental assemblies, such as boards of directors and committees of voluntary organisations.
[13] A seat can, in some cases, be vacant for even longer; prior to the 2015 federal election, for example, Stephen Harper had to call three by-elections in 2015.
However, as the length of time the seats were vacant required that a byelection be called but the length of time remaining before the general election campaign began was too short to justify actually holding one, he scheduled the by-election dates as the date of the general election itself — a technical formality which essentially meant that a by-election was scheduled but would never actually be held.
However it did not cater for instances where the minority race MP vacates their seat hence the SDP filed a suit to clarify the matter.
[16] The High Court judge rejected the bid to hold a by-election and SDP withdraws the suit after a thorough explanation by the Deputy AG.
The Constitution requires the executive authority (i.e. the governor) of the state concerned to issue writs of election.
The seventeenth amendment provides that vacancies in the United States Senate filled by an appointment by the governor unless the legislature of the state concerned has passed a law providing some other means to fill the vacancy, such as a popular election.