HB 4293 is up for 2nd Reading on House Floor today. Contact your Legislators and urge them to vote NO. If it passes the House, as it likely will, contact your Senators.
The purpose of HB 4293 is to prohibit the delivery of unsolicited absentee ballot applications to any person who has not specifically requested one from the county clerk. (text excerpt below)
WHY ACTION?
This bill is a solution in search of a problem. The Legislature has already decided not to expand absentee voting as it was conducted successfully in 2020. That means most West Virginian voters are not eligible to vote by absentee. Even those who are eligible are deterred from applying because the rules are vague and overly complicated.
Yet, this bill wants to further limit and penalize county clerks and others from distribution of absentee ballot applications to voters who might be eligible. It makes no sense. It is voter suppression and will have a chilling effect on county clerks who try to encourage voting.
TEXT excerpt:
(o) (1) If any election official knowingly and intentionally mails or delivers an application for an absentee ballot to any voter without the specific request of that voter, that person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $500 or imprisoned in a state correctional facility for a period of not more than six months, or both fined and imprisoned.
(2) If any person, not an election official, knowingly and intentionally mails or delivers more than 10 applications for an absentee ballot to a group of voters without the specific request of those voters, that person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $500 or imprisoned in a state correctional facility for a period of not more than six months, or both fined and imprisoned.
- Judy
Judy K. Ball, PhD, MPA
9 Palmetto Drive
Morgantown, WV 26508
240.997.1222 (cell)
BallJK@aol.com