The situation has arisen as a result of the death of one newly elected member of the House and the resignation of two others following their successful elections to other roles.

A special election for a seat in the Pennsylvania state Senate could also further complicate matters as a Republican member of the House is seeking election to that seat on January 31.

Democrats won 102 seats in the 203-seat state House on November 8 but state Representative Tony DeLuca, passed away before election day and it was too late to remove his name from the ballot.

Additionally, a Democratic representative won election to the U.S. House of Representatives and another was elected lieutenant governor. Both resigned their seats on December 7.

The current composition of the state House is therefore in effect 99 Democrats and 101 Republicans but Democratic Representative Joanna McClinton had herself sworn in during an unpublicized ceremony on December 7, which she says makes her presiding officer of the body until the new House meets on January 3.

McClinton has scheduled three special elections to fill the vacant state House seats for February 7, 2023 but Republicans are now challenging that decision in court, arguing that McClinton did not have the authority to do so.

Republican House leader Representative Bryan Cutler, who filed the lawsuit on December 9, called the move a “paperwork insurrection.”

The lawsuit asks the court to grant an injunction to “prevent a possibly unlawful special election from being held, which would cause irreparable harm in several ways, including usurping [Cutler’s] authority as Leader of the Republican Caucus of the House of Representatives and possibly Majority Leader of the House of Representatives.”

As majority leader, Cutler would have the authority to schedule the special elections for the vacant seats. Those elections will take place in districts that Democrats typically win.

House Democratic spokesperson Nicole Reigelman called the Republican lawsuit “the latest attempt to disenfranchise Pennsylvania voters and deny tens of thousands of people in Allegheny County their right to representation in the state House” in comments to Spotlight PA published on December 10.

Cutler had initially scheduled a special election to fill the late Tony DeLuca’s seat for February 7 but the Pennsylvania Department of State told him in a letter that he didn’t have the authority to schedule special elections for the coming session.

After he was sworn in, Cutler issued what a Republican press release described as “valid writs of election” on December 15 to fill the two other vacant seats and fixed the date for those elections as May 16, 2023.

“It is unfortunate we had to arrive at this conclusion today, but the illegitimate and illegal writs of election issued last week by the leader of the minority party in the House, with the cooperation of the Pennsylvania Department of State, forced this continued action and the ongoing litigation over those writs,” Cutler said.

“This is what happens when Democrats continue to redefine terms to fit their singular belief of what is right and show their true nature as pure partisans, instead of as rational stewards of our shared institutions,” he said.

On Monday, Pennsylvania House Democrats’ official Twitter account shared a news article about the special elections that also reported Republicans may seek to introduce constitutional amendments while they remain in the majority.

“GOP leadership wants to deny voters of their right to representation in Harrisburg and allow House Republicans to ram through extremist policies,” House Democrats tweeted.

“From the Pennsylvania politicians who co-produced Donald Trump’s Jan. 6, 2020 coup attempt comes the latest effort to ignore voters and claim an election victory they did not earn,” they said in an earlier tweet.

If the special elections are delayed beyond February 7, Republicans could potentially exert control over the state House for several months, which could complicate the incoming administration of Democratic Governor-elect Josh Shapiro.

To further complicate matters, a special election will be held to fill a seat in the state Senate on January 31 to replace Republican Senator John Gordner, who has resigned.

Republican state Representative Lynda Schlegel Culver has announced her intention to run in the district, that leans heavily toward the GOP. If she wins, she will have to vacate her seat in the House, reducing the number of Republican members.

Newsweek has asked Pennsylvania House Republicans and Democrats for comment.