So an election fails, and you appoint someone in the position? Oh, yeah, that'll calm the people down. Really lets the people know that their government is functioning well when the electoral system is just completely circumvented like that.
The message remains for (IIRC) between 7 and 10 days. It is an indication of a small penalty to region stats. It shouldn't cause any serious damage unless you've got some regions that are already in pretty bad shape.
If you have multiple failed elections at the same time, that's when you really have to worry.