Click here to see a timeline, videos and more on Robert C. Byrd.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A special election to complete U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd's term cannot be held until 2012, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant said Monday.

"That election will not be the 2010 general election," she said during a late-afternoon news conference Monday.

That means Gov. Joe Manchin can appoint someone to fill Byrd's seat, and that person will hold the seat until the election in November 2012.

Tennant said staff attorneys reviewed state law (W.Va. Code 3-10-3) regarding U.S. Senate vacancies, as well as a 1994 state Supreme Court decision. They concluded that it's too late to have a special election for Byrd's unexpired term to coincide with this year's general election on Nov. 2.

"That means the election for the unexpired term for the U.S. Senate will be the next election cycle, which is 2012," she said.

State law states that if there is more than two years, six months remaining in an unexpired term, there is to be a special election to fill the vacancy, she said.

However, the law also says that candidates for the unexpired term are to be nominated in the first primary election after the vacancy occurs.

Tennant said that since no candidates had filed in the May 11 primary for what turned out to be an unexpired term, the law states that nominees for the unexpired term are to be selected in the May 2012 primary, with the special election to take place during the November 2012 general election.

Byrd would have been up for re-election in 2012, so anyone running for the unexpired term would probably also run at the same time for the full six-year term that begins in January 2013, she said.

Tennant noted that the primary deadline for candidates to file for unexpired terms was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 1994, in a case involving Gov. Gaston Caperton's appointment of Irene Berger to fill a vacancy on the Kanawha Circuit Court.

Berger was appointed in April 1994 to a term that was to expire in December 2000.

Because her appointment came after the filing deadline for the May 1994 primary election, the court rejected an argument by the state Republican Party seeking to have the unexpired term on the ballot for the November 1994 general election.

Once the 2012 election is certified, the winner of the special election will serve as U.S. senator for approximately five to six weeks, before the term of the winner of the 2012 general election will begin, she said.

Asked whether the Legislature had actually intended that someone would serve such a short term in the Senate, Tennant said, "I can't speak for what the Legislature did. ... I think this is just a unique situation."

She noted that had Byrd lived one week longer, the issue would be moot, since there would have been less than two years and six months remaining in his term of office.

In that case, Tennant said the law is clear that Gov. Joe Manchin's appointee would serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.

Tennant said nothing would prevent Manchin from calling the Legislature into special session to revise the law, so that a special election could be held this fall.

She also said nothing precludes someone filing a lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of the state law.

"That's the beauty of our democracy. People have the opportunity to challenge whatever the Legislature has put into place," she said.

State election law does not set any timeline for Manchin to make an appointment to fill the vacancy, Tennant noted.

Manchin said earlier Monday that he would not appoint himself to fill the unexpired term.

Tennant, meanwhile, said it was unfortunate that issues regarding the unexpired term had to be addressed during what should be a time of mourning for Byrd.

"We're still talking about a wonderful person who served West Virginia, whose passing was less than 24 hours ago," she said.

Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1220.