A top state official has informed that West Virginia will not hold a special election until 2012 to fill the U. S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of Robert Byrd.

Byrd, the longest-serving member of Congress in history, died Monday at 92 after more serious issues developed following his admittance to Inova Fairfax Hospital last week for heat exhaustion.

State law does not permit a special election in November because the state has already held its primary election, West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant told reporters in Charleston, W. Va., on Monday. The November
2012 ballot will include two senatorial elections, one to determine who will serve the remaining two months of the term Byrd was elected to in 2006 and one to choose a senator to serve a new, six-year term beginning in 2013, she further said.

The New York Times has reported that Gov. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, will appoint an interim senator to fill Byrd's seat until the November 2012 election. Manchin said he will not appoint himself to the seat but will consider running in 2012.

The Times further said that republicans did not respond publicly to Tennant's announcement but GOP officials said privately there was little chance they would challenge the decision. (With Inputs from Agencies)