Opinion of the Justices

Summary

The Justices advised that the Governor's duty to call an election for a legislative vacancy arises whenever the vacancy exists and does not depend on receiving formal notice from a probate judge. They further concluded that the constitutional use of "shall" imposes a mandatory duty to issue a writ of election, although the opinion did not decide the timing of the election or the circumstances in which holding one might be impossible or futile. The Justices declined to answer the third question because it assumed a different answer to the second question.