American era

The Philippine Commission, by then the highest civil authority outside the Governor-General, in the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands, passed Act No. 1582 or the "Election Law" on January 9, 1907. It specifies that for any vacancies in the Philippine Assembly, it shall be determined by a special election set by the Governor-General that shall be not be less than 40 days, but not more than 90 days, from the date of proclamation.

For provincial officials, the Governor-General shall call for a special election. For municipal officials, if the office of municipal president is vacated, the municipal vice president shall be filled by the vice-president, if there is one. For other municipal officials, it shall be appointed by the provincial board.

The same law specified that once convened, the Philippine Assembly shall be the lower house of the bicameral Philippine Legislature, with the Philippine Commission being the upper house.

Act No. 2045, enacted by the Philippine Legislature on February 3, 1911, struck out the provision on the prohibition of filling up vacancies on the Philippine Assembly a year before its term ends.

The Tydings–McDuffie Act transformed the Insular Government to the Commonwealth of the Philippines. A constitution was then approved, replacing the Philippine Legislature with the unicameral National Assembly. The National Assembly then passed Commonwealth Act No. 21 that governed special elections. It stated that vacancies that occur 10 months before the term expires shall have special elections.

Third Republic era

The United States granted independence to the Philippines on July 4, 1946.

In Republic Act (R.A.) No. 180, or the Revised Election Code of 1947, if a vacancy in either chamber of Congress occurs at least 10 months or before a regular election, the president shall call a special election as soon as the chamber where the vacancy occurred of the existence of such vacancy notified him.^[1]

During the Third Republic era (1946–1972), special elections were held concurrently with Senate and local elections.

Fourth Republic era

In Batas Pambansa Bilang (B.P. Blg.; National Law No.) 881, or the Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines, approved on December 3, 1985, in case of a vacancy in the Batasang Pambansa (National Parliament) 18 months or more before a regular election, the Commission on Elections shall call a special election to be held within sixty days after the vacancy occurs; in case parliament is dissolved, the President shall call an election which shall not be held earlier than forty-five nor later than sixty days from the date of such dissolution.^[2] Several weeks earlier, President Ferdinand Marcos ordered the Batasang Pambansa to call a special snap election a year prior to the regularly-schedule election. B.P. Blg 883 called the special presidential election on the same day B.P. Blg 881 was passed. Marcos was then ousted after the People Power Revolution when it was alleged he won that election via massive election fraud. The new government headed by President Corazon Aquino restored the presidential system with a bicameral Congress.

Fifth republic era

The constitution ratified in 1987 provided Congress to convene on the third day of the vacancy of both the presidency and vice presidency to enact a law calling for a special election for both offices, with the exception that no election will be called if the next scheduled election is 18 months away. If only one of the offices is vacant, the vice president becomes president, or the president appoints a member of Congress as vice president, with both chambers voting separately to confirm the appointment, as the case may be.^[3]

Later, as stipulated in R.A. No. 6645 approved on December 28, 1987, once a vacancy occurs in the Senate at least 18 months, or in the House of Representatives at least one year, before the next scheduled election, the Commission on Elections, upon receipt of a resolution from the chamber where the vacancy occurred, shall schedule a special election. The special election will then be held not earlier than 45 days nor later than 90 days from the date of the resolution.^[4]

However, R.A. No. 7166 approved on November 26, 1991, amended parts of R.A. No. 6645. When a vacancy in the House of Representatives occurs at least one year before the expiration of the term, the special election shall be held not earlier than 60 days nor later than 90 days after occurrence of the vacancy. For the Senate, if the vacancy occurs also at least one year before the expiration of the term, the special election shall be held on the day of the next succeeding regular election.^[5]

With the passage of Republic Act No. 8295 in 1997, if there is only one candidate running for the position, that candidate would be proclaimed as the winner, and an election would no longer be held.^[6] This is unlike in regularly scheduled elections where voting would still be held and the candidate has to get one vote in order to be elected. Since the enactment of this law, no special election has seen only one candidate.

Not all vacancies that occurred a year before the next regular election resulted in a special election. To save money, the Speaker appoints a caretaker representative from a nearby district. In same cases a caretaker representative was appointed while an election date was considered.

As with general elections, special elections are usually scheduled on a Monday. Special elections held since the 15th Congress are mostly done on Saturdays. In some cases, election days are declared as holidays.

Lack of special elections

In accordance with current laws, the decision to call a special election to fill permanent vacancies is not mandatory, and is solely at the discretion of Congress, which has received criticism for not quickly acting to fill such vacancies.^[7] Despite many vacancies occurring well before a year from the end of a congressional term, Congress has left many such seats unfilled. In more extreme examples some even remained vacant for two years or more:^[8]

Since the country's independence in 1946, no special elections were called during the presidencies of Carlos P. Garcia, Corazon Aquino and Joseph Estrada; the 4th Congress, during the Garcia presidency, notably did not have deaths in the lower house. During the first half of the presidency of Diosdado Macapagal, and the latter half of the presidencies of Fidel V. Ramos and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and from the beginning of the second presidential term of Ferdinand Marcos in 1969 until his removal from office in 1986, no special elections were called. During the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, no special elections were ever held. In the first half of the presidency of Bongbong Marcos, at least one special election was called.

1946 elections

Due to the Commonwealth of the Philippines government being driven into exile by World War II, the supposed general election in November 1945 were not held as scheduled. The Commonwealth government reconstituted itself in 1946 and some senators called for elections to be held right away. The United States Congress approved a joint resolution setting the date of the election on not later than April 30, 1946. The Commonwealth Congress then enacted a law, Commonwealth Act No. 725, setting the date of the election on April 23, 1946. Like most special elections though, the winners would serve only until 1949, or as if their terms started in 1945.

Manuel Roxas defeated the incumbent Sergio Osmeña, while the former's running mate Elpidio Quirino defeated Osmeña's running mate Eulogio Rodriguez.

1986 snap elections

In 1985, the Batasang Pambansa called a special election for the offices of president and vice president on February 7, 1986; unlike special elections elsewhere when it was called due to a vacancy, incumbent president Ferdinand Marcos did not relinquish his office, and that the winners will serve a full six-year term, instead of the remainder of the current term. The vice presidency, which was vacant after it was restored when a constitutional amendment was approved in a 1984 plebiscite, was also at stake. Marcos and his running mate, MP from Manila Arturo Tolentino, won their respective elections against Corazon Aquino and Salvador Laurel, but allegations of massive fraud led to the People Power Revolution a couple of weeks later that led to his ouster.

Malolos Congress

The Malolos Constitution did not provide provisions for holding special elections to fill vacancies in the Malolos Congress.

Philippine Legislature

National Assembly (Commonwealth)

National Assembly (Second Republic)

The 1943 constitution did not provide provisions for holding special elections to fill vacancies in the National Assembly.

Commonwealth Congress

No special elections were called for the Commonwealth Congress, elected in 1941 and first met in 1945; the much-delayed elections of 1945 were held in 1946.

Congress of the Philippines

Batasang Pambansa

While the 1973 constitution had the mechanism for calling special elections in case of vacancies in the Batasang Pambansa, and several vacancies indeed happened, no special elections were called.

Statistics

Philippine Legislature

From 1917 to 1934, senators are elected via senatorial districts; a vacancy mid-term had been filled up by a special election.

Commonwealth Congress

• No special elections were called for the Commonwealth Congress.

Starting from 1941, senators elected at-large nationwide, have 6-year terms, with senators elected via staggered elections: every two years, eight out of the 24 senators were elected from 1940 to 1972, and 12 out of 24 senators every three years since 1987. In cases where a senator left office before the expiration of his term, a special election on the day of the next regularly scheduled Senate election was held to fill up the vacancy, as long as the seat per se won't be contested on that election day. There had been three cases where that happened.

Congress

Statistics

Death and leaving office for another position are the most frequent reasons why there are senatorial special elections:

Per election

The "thirteenth" senator

There had been four instances in the Fifth Republic where a seat was vacated exactly midway through the senators' term due to election to another office. In all cases, the thirteenth-placed senator in the immediately preceding election was not given the formers seat since the vacancy occurred after the election.

• In 1998, Senator Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was elected vice president midway through her term. Arroyo's seat was up for the 2001 election and no special elections were held, nor was the thirteenth-placed candidate during the 1998 Senate election (Roberto Pagdanganan) proclaimed winner. Later that year, Marcelo Fernan died in office, leaving two vacant seats in the Senate (Fernan's seat was also up in 2001).
• In 2004, Senator Noli de Castro was elected vice president midway through his term. De Castro's seat was up for the 2007 election and no special election was held, nor was the thirteenth-placed candidate during the 2004 Senate election (Robert Barbers) proclaimed winner.
• In 2007, Senator Alfredo Lim was elected mayor of Manila midway through his term. Lim's seat was up for the 2010 election and no special election was held, nor was the thirteenth-placed candidate during the 2007 Senate election (Koko Pimentel) proclaimed winner. On August 15, 2011, Pimentel assumed the seat of Migz Zubiri after allegations of electoral fraud.
• In 2010, Senator Benigno Aquino III was elected president midway through his term. Aquino's seat was up for the 2013 election and no special election was held, nor was the thirteenth-placed candidate during the 2010 Senate election (Risa Hontiveros) proclaimed winner.

In all of those cases, the thirteenth-placed candidate was not given the vacant seat as the voters elected for only twelve senators.^[16]

This was not a problem for senators elected from 1946 to 1971, as long as they were elected to a new position prior to the second Senate election of their terms; a senator is expected to see two Senate elections in a six-year term instead of just one post-1987:

• In 1949, two years in to his term, Senator Fernando Lopez was elected vice president. A special election was called in 1951 for a successor to serve out the final two years of the term. Felixberto Verano was elected in the special election. Verano was subsequently defeated in the next regular election in 1953.
• In 1953, two years in to his term, Senator Carlos P. Garcia was elected vice president. A special election was called in 1955 for a successor to serve out the final two years of the term. Roseller T. Lim was elected in the special election. Lim was able to defend his seat in the next regular election in 1957.

For senators elected since 1987, their seats will be vacant until the end of their terms since there will be no intervening Senate elections from the day they gave up their seat up to the expiration of their term, unless it becomes vacant prior to election day, as shown in the four examples above.

Local legislatures

Chief executives

The vice president, vice governor and vice mayor shall replace the president, governor and mayor, as the case may be, upon permanent vacancy, and shall serve until the next general election. For permanent vacancy for the barangay chairman, the highest-ranking member of the Sangguniang Barangay (the barangay councilor that received the most votes in the preceding election) shall replace the predecessor. No special election shall be called.^[17]

If a permanent vacancy for the president and vice president at the same time occurs, a special election will be called. An extraordinary special election was called in 1986.

Deputy of chief executives

Once a vacancy for the vice governor or vice mayor occurs, the highest-ranking member of the local legislature (the member that received the most votes in the preceding election) shall replace the predecessor. If that member belongs to a political party, that party will nominate a new member to the legislature. If that member is an independent, the governor or mayor will nominate a new member. No special election shall be called.