A bill that would essentially do away with party appointments for vacancies on the ballot is on its way to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law.
During the last day of the regular session, the House approved HB 4350 by a vote of 80-15 after accepting minor tweaks by the Senate.
If no candidate from a party files to run for an elected office by the deadline, county party executive committees can currently appoint someone to run for the seat.
Prior to 2022, committees could fill a vacancy on the ballot 78 days prior to the general election. However, a law passed that year pushed that back to a few weeks after the filing deadline.
The change would eliminate the practice entirely, except for narrow circumstances including death, resignation or no one filing to run for the position at all. This would shorten the amount of time that party officials have to find a candidate and would go into effect after the 2024 election.
On Saturday’s vote, Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, called the measure the “incumbency protection act,” arguing that it will limit the choice for voters.
In recent elections, the Democratic party has struggled to field candidates in many legislative and statewide races.
In the past, Del. Josh Holstein, R-Boone, the lead sponsor of the bill, said it was just about enforcing the filing deadlines already baked into the code.