Skye Kakoschke-Moore becomes the ninth federal politician to lose their gig in Canberra because of the dual citizenship fiasco (yes, we've escalated from saga to fiasco).

The nation is fairly well versed in how politicians are replaced now.

But we've already seen hints that replacing the South Australian won't be that straightforward.

What's the standard procedure?

There would be a recount of the state Senate vote. There were four Nick Xenophon Team (NXT) Senate candidates — three got elected.

The final candidate on the ticket is Tim Storer.

Right, so it's Senator Storer?

Not so fast. There was a bit of a barney in the NXT a few weeks ago, when party founder and namesake Nick Xenophon formally resigned from the Senate to run in next year's South Australian state election.

Because he resigned, rather than being disqualified (he survived his citizenship case in the High Court), the party got to pick his successor.

So they chose Rex Patrick, Mr Xenophon's right hand man.

Mr Storer wasn't all too pleased with that, and sought legal advice on wrangling the spot back.

He failed. He quit the party.

How does that affect this case?

This is where it gets messy. A recount is done as if the Electoral Commission is counting the votes at the time of the last election.

In 2016, Tim Storer was a member of the NXT. He's only quit in the past month or so.

In that regard, he'd argue the spot is his to take. But party leader Nick Xenophon has already put up a roadblock, saying the party needs to wait for the reasons for a judgment in another case.

What case is that?

Let's jump to the Nash/Hughes saga. Liberal candidate Hollie Hughes was the next in line to replace former deputy nationals leader Fiona Nash.

Ms Hughes was self-employed at the time of the election, but after she failed to get elected, she took a taxpayer-funded job.

She quit that job 43 minutes after Fiona Nash was disqualified by the High Court, but Ms Hughes has also been ruled ineligible.

The reasons haven't been published.

That case seems very different, though?

It is. But the reasons could be telling in this case.

If the High Court has effectively ruled Ms Hughes's actions after the election (in taking the government job) ruled her ineligible, Mr Xenophon might be trying to rely on a similar train of thought to stop Mr Storer.

In other words, Mr Storer's decision to quit the party after the election means he is unable to replace Ms Kakoschke-Moore.

If that's the outcome, who knows what could happen. The High Court could say the party can pick its replacement, and surely NXT would want to parachute Ms Kakoschke-Moore back in as soon as possible.

Then again, it could make a completely different ruling. The High Court can do whatever it wants.