[2] In 1784, the state constitution was entirely rewritten, and the upper chamber was reconstituted as the popularly elected Senate.

Similarly, if a vacancy occurred while the legislature was in session, the General Court would pick the successor from the top two remaining candidates.

The constitution was amended in 1889 to provide that session vacancies would be filled by special elections and in 1912 to abolish the majority-vote requirement altogether.

An analysis of the vacancy-filling patterns shows that the General Court was overwhelmingly likely to fill vacancies based on the party affiliation of the eligible candidates.

In 1875, outgoing Democratic Governor James A. Weston exercised his constitutional power to issue "summonses" to the winners of legislative elections to avoid the General Court filling two vacancies.

After concluding that the amendment applied after the election, not to it, the General Court proceeded to fill the vacancies.