Make Some Noise! OPPOSE HB 5219/SB 59 — TIME SENSITIVE
UPDATE: We just learned that a companion (likely identical) bill (SB 59) will be on the Senate Judiciary Committee agenda tomorrow (3/16) at 3PM.
Emails and phone numbers for Senate Judiciary: https://wvecouncil.org/wv…/senate-judiciary-committee/
Find your Senators here: https://fastdemocracy.com/find-your-legislators/
HB 5219 is on House Judiciary Committee Agenda for Markup/Passage, Mon, Feb 16 at 9 am
HB 5219 would establish new and complicated rules to determine residency to register and vote (or “register to vote” — a possible typo that was not resolved in last week’s Committee discussion).
HB 5219 claims to clarify residency, for use by the courts, but it appears only to raise more questions than it answers. (The possible typo noted above is only one.) Committee discussion pointed out many provisions where the language is unusually vague and subjective.
A particular red flag for the LWV is how HB 5219 attempts to define residency for college students. This bill appears to conflict with a Supreme Court decision from 1979 (Symm v. United States) holding that students have the constitutional right to register and vote where they attend college. State law cannot override that, but HB 5219 appears to try.
Contact your Delegate and members of the House Judiciary Committee and ask them to OPPOSE this unnecessary and poorly drafted bill.
LWVWV OPPOSES HB 5219.
House Judiciary Committee member emails and phone numbers:
https://wvecouncil.org/wv-legislature/house-judiciary-committee/
Find your Delegate here: https://fastdemocracy.com/find-your-legislators/