A writ of election is a writ issued by the government ordering the holding of a special election for a political office.
In the United Kingdom and in Canada, this is the only way of holding an election for the House of Commons. When the government wants to or is required to dissolve Parliament, a writ of election is issued for each constituency by the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery (in the UK) or electoral district by the Chief Electoral Officer (in Canada).
In the United States, this writ is issued mainly by state governors for filling vacancies in the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, or the states' own legislatures.
In Australia, the writs are issued by the Governor-General for the House of Representatives and by the respective state Governors for the Senate. State governors also issue the writs for elections in the state and territorial legislatures. The writs are issued to the relevant Electoral Officer or Returning Officer, as the case may be, who must return them after the election has been held within a fixed period
Famous quotes containing the words writ and/or election:
“I went to the Garden of Love,
And saw what I never had seen:
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.
And the gates of this Chapel were shut,
And ‘Thou shalt not’ writ over the door;”
—William Blake (1757–1827)
“The election makes me think of a story of a man who was dying. He had only two minutes to live, so he sent for a clergyman and asked him, “Where is the best place to go to?” He was undecided about it. So the minister told him that each place had its advantages—heaven for climate, and hell for society.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)