The West Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill Tuesday that would require mail-in ballots to be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be counted. The bill will now be submitted to the Senate for consideration. (Photo from Getty Images)
West Virginia delegates passed a bill that would require mail-in ballots to be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.
The House of Representatives passed House Bill 4600 with a voice from 79 to 17 and three members absent.
Under current law, mail-in ballots are counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and received before the votes are officially counted.
The Republican-led House on Monday rejected four amendments from Democrats Evan Hansen (D-Monongalia) and Sean Hornbuckle (D-Cabell) that would have maintained the current deadline for students studying outside their home districts, the unwell and disabled, the elderly and military members.
Democrats who opposed the bill pointed out that the United States Postal Service sometimes delivers mail delayed and that voters have no control over when the mail is delivered. They argue that the bill is based on conspiracy theories about voter fraud.
“We’re not talking about scammers. We’re not talking about schemers. We’re talking about our neighbors,” Rep. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, said in opposing the bill. “Who are we talking about in particular? The elderly, the disabled and our military. These are the people who are requesting absentee ballots.
“We are telling them that even though you, as a citizen of West Virginia, have made good faith efforts to ensure that you participate in our democracy, that you have cast your vote, that you have received the postmark, and that we, the government, will no longer count your participation in our democracy because the postal system is not functioning properly.”
Republicans said the law was about election integrity.
The bill’s lead sponsor, Rick Hillenbrand, R-Hampshire, said the legislation was prompted in part by a statement from the United States Postal Service in December that postmarks may not reflect the date someone puts something in the mail.
According to a Statement of January 2nd According to the USPS, a postmark is not intended to be evidence of when mail was sent and does not necessarily indicate the first date the postal service took possession of the mailpiece. The statement said senders can verify that the postmark matches at the time of receipt by the Postal Service by requesting a manual postmark.
Del. Rep. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, said he doesn’t understand what problem the bill is intended to solve. He said he was not aware of any cases in which an election winner was declared and the results then changed after postal votes were counted.
“I think what we always try to do is make a mistake when counting votes,” Pushkin said. “I said it yesterday: If we want to talk about personal responsibility, the only thing you can change is when you actually mail it. Unfortunately, we have no control over when it actually arrives. So it only makes sense that it would be based on the postmark and not the arrival date. That’s out of the voter’s control.”
Del. Rep. Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, brought up a 2010 Lincoln County case in which a candidate conspired with local officials to stuff the ballot box with mail-in ballots. If candidates know the number of votes cast on Election Day, they will know how many mail-in ballots it will take to win, he said.
“It’s important that these come through the Board of Elections and not just by postmark,” Linville said. “Because you can change a postmark.”
Del. Keith Marple, R-Harrison, spoke against the bill, calling it an affront to West Virginia voters. Often, older voters will request absentee ballots and wait until they hear from both candidates before casting their ballot, he said.
“I think we are doing an injustice to the citizens and voters of West Virginia,” Marple said. “If they mail their ballot on Monday, have it stamped at the post office, which you can do. They do it by hand and then find out their vote won’t be counted because they didn’t receive it when the polls closed on election night.”
“I urge you to reject this bill, you protect the dignity of elections in West Virginia, and you allow people to mail in their ballots the day before the election and have them postmarked,” Marple said.
The law, if enacted, comes as the Republican Party is wrapping up its election campaign in May Non-Republican primaries For the first time in decades.
The bill will next go to the Senate for consideration.
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