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It’s the ultimate irony — even if he resigns, Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. (D-Ward 5) will keep denying his constituents effective representation and keep costing the District taxpayers money.

Let’s say he resigns this week, as has been rumored. According to the D.C. Charter, a special election to fill Thomas’ seat would have to be scheduled as soon as his seat is declared vacant. Since we have a primary coming up on April 3, that would be a great time for it, right? Sure, but it would be against the law.

Instead, the charter mandates that any special election be held “on the first Tuesday occurring more than one hundred and fourteen days after the date on which such vacancy occurs.” That means that the earliest a special election could happen would be May 1, but it would be more likely on May 8 or May 15. (The charter allows the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics to make an exemption if the vacancy occurs close to the general election, but that’s in November.) Additionally, unlike an At-Large seat, Thomas’ spot would remain unfilled until the election.

Well, why not just change that? Since it would require amending the city’s charter, that’s something left to Congress, unfortunately. (Residents can also vote in a referendum to change it.) D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton has long tried to shorten the waiting time between a vacancy and a special election to 70 days, but the legislation still has yet to clear all of the congressional hurdles.

According to Alysoun McLaughlin, the election board’s spokeswoman, even if they could creatively interpret the existing language in the charter to have the special election coincide with the April 3 primary, it might not be practical to do so. Nominating petitions for the April 3 candidates are due today, and ballots have to be sent out to print in mid-February. Even if Thomas resigned today and his seat was immediately declared vacant, getting Ward 5 hopefuls organized in time might not happen.

And then there’s the cost of it. The last ward-based special elections took place in 2007, when Muriel Bowser was elected to fill Adrian Fenty’s Ward 4 seat and Yvette Alexander for Mayor Vince Gray’s Ward 7 seat. Together, those elections cost $750,000. That same year, a special election for a Ward 4 seat on the D.C. State Board of Education cost $250,000 — but only saw one percent turnout. According to people with knowledge of the District’s elections, a single ward-based special election for Thomas’ successor would fall somewhere between the two.

Obviously, it’s a painful irony that the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics will have to go to the council to get the money, on top of the $300,000 that Thomas is accused of misappropriating to begin with.