Photo by Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie.

Last week, we reported that the D.C. Democratic State Committee had laid out the process by which it would fill the soon-to-be-empty seat currently held by At-Large Councilmember Kwame Brown. Of course, whoever gets the nod from the Democratic committee won’t be on the job long — according to the D.C. Home Rule Charter, a special election has to be held within four months of the vacancy.

Today, though, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would cut the wait for a special election from 114 to 70 days, meaning that whoever is selected in January could have but two months of legislative perks before they have to step aside or face an election to stay in the seat and complete Brown’s term, which is set to end in 2012.

The legislation still has to go through the Senate and be signed by President Barack Obama before taking effect, and given the ways of Washington, that might not happen anytime soon. But if it does, we may soon see a scramble by both the city and potential candidates to prepare for the special election — one that the District’s Board of Elections and Ethics is likely loathe to have to pay for.

Regardless of when the special election is held, there is likely to be continued grumbling about the fact that the Home Rule charter requires party committees to make a temporary appointment for At-Large seats, but not ward seats. The appointment process, as many have argued, is basically a game of insider horse-trading. If the wait time gets knocked down to two months, it will seem even more foolish to appoint a caretaker to keep the seat warm.