The 2025 legislative session has seen the introduction of 93 bills related to elections or voting.
Following West Virginia Republicans’ victory in nearly every election in November, the GOP supermajority has spent the majority of the 2025 legislative session on bills aimed at improving election integrity.
Democratic lawmakers claim that conspiracy theories are driving the flood of election legislation this session.
This legislative session has seen the introduction of 93 bills related to elections or voting, with Republican-backed measures aimed at cleaning up voter rolls, restricting immigrants’ voting rights, making judicial races partisan, and other issues dominating committee agendas.
The Senate has already approved legislation that clarifies voter eligibility, including the requirement that voters be citizens of both the United States and their respective states; it also seeks to protect the voting rights of elderly residents.
A bill that would limit absentee voter registration has sparked concern among several outside groups, including the Women League of Voters of West Virginia, which claims it targets elderly and disabled West Virginians in a state with low voter turnout.
“West Virginia has serious issues… The group recommends addressing these issues before delving into false conspiracy theories spread on right-wing social media and cable news.
West Virginia had no reports of election fraud during the 2024 general election, in which voters overwhelmingly supported President Donald Trump and Republican candidates won nearly every race in the state, adding to the GOP majority in the legislature.
“With so many Republicans in the legislature, do they believe the elections were fixed or rigged? “Because that is the legislation they are promoting,” said Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio.
Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia, believes a non-election year is the best time for lawmakers to focus on making elections safe and preventing potential problems. He suggested that lawmakers look to other states for ideas.
“It gives us an opportunity to really look at election laws, evaluate what happened during the last election cycle, and try to identify what we can do to make the process better, safer and stomp out any fraud,” according to him. “There is no conspiracy here. Republicans do not intend to make it more difficult to vote.
Several of the bills were introduced at the request of new Secretary of State Kris Warner, who stated that ensuring the integrity of the election process was a top priority.
“The names of deceased people, convicted felons, and out-of-state citizens will continue to be removed from the voter rolls,” Warner told reporters at the West Virginia Press Association’s Legislative Lookahead last month.
“This session I’ll support the implementation of photo ID for voters and work tirelessly to ensure every eligible citizen will have the right and opportunity to vote.”
West Virginia Republican Party Co-Chairman Tony Hodge, whose work includes increasing voter turnout, stated that Republican lawmakers are not attempting to make it more difficult to vote.
“I think all West Virginians would agree that our elections should be as secure as possible,” he told reporters. “It just gives peace of mind.”
Concerns are raised about a bill restricting absentee voting applications.
One of the more contentious bills has been Republican-sponsored House Bill 2117, which would change how the state handles absentee ballots by establishing a deadline of 7:30 p.m. on Election Day for absentee ballots to be received and prohibiting people from sending absentee ballot applications to people who did not request them.
Trump has criticised the use of mail-in ballots, blaming the voting method for his 2020 presidential loss, though he has since backtracked.
Absentee voting is permitted in West Virginia only in limited circumstances, such as when residents are unable to vote in person or have another valid excuse, such as illness or incarceration.
The legislation, which passed the House 88-14 on March 6, has sparked criticism from groups such as the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, which claims it penalises people who rely on the United States Postal Service to send absentee ballots.
“HB 2117 disregards West Virginia’s strong election safeguards, pushing baseless conspiracy nonsense that wastes time and ignores real issues,” CAG’s deputy director, Julie Archer, said in a statement. “Instead of solving problems, it attacks voters and makes it harder for eligible West Virginians to cast their ballots.”
“Supporters pointed to restrictive voting laws in other states to justify the bill — laws born from the same baseless hysteria over voter fraud that this legislature seems hell-bent on keeping alive,” the speaker said.
Del. Rick Hillenbrand, R-Hampshire, one of the bill’s sponsors, stated that he wanted to prevent groups from sending large numbers of absentee ballot applications to people who may not be legally eligible to vote by absentee ballot.
“This has actually occurred in the past where some groups have without vetting whom they’re sending applications to, whether or not they’re legally eligible to vote by absentee,” he pointed out. “They simply mass-mail absentee ballot applications.
The problem is that some people are perhaps overly trusting of things that are sent to them and delivered, particularly by organisations they believe to be reputable.”
According to Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, the bill could unfairly limit absentee voting among nursing home residents. West Virginia is one of the country’s most elderly states.
“I’m concerned that federal law requires nursing home workers to help their residents vote,” says Hansen.
According to the bill, individuals who mail or deliver more than ten absentee ballot applications will face a $500 fine or incarceration for a misdemeanour. It prompted Hansen to send an absentee ballot application to each House member, demonstrating that “this email would be illegal.”
“Hopefully that made the point with them how ridiculous this bill is,” he told me. “They fear absentee voting, so they want to make it more difficult to cast a vote.”
In a statement, the League of Women Voters of West Virginia referred to the legislation as voter suppression. The bill is awaiting Senate consideration.
“Absentee voting is essential for West Virginians with disabilities, those who lack transportation, the elderly, and residents of rural areas,” according to a statement from the organisation. “These are the demographics that define much of West Virginia’s potential voting population.
“Our state is known for low broadband penetration. This bill targets vulnerable West Virginians who are unlikely to have computers or direct internet access and would otherwise access absentee applications on their own.
One election bill is awaiting Morrisey’s signature.
Sen. Jack Woodrum, R-Summers, sponsored a bill that would prohibit rank-choice voting, which is not currently allowed in the state. The measure, which passed both the House and the Senate, is now awaiting Governor Patrick Morrisey’s approval. It is one of 13 bills that have reached the governor’s desk by the halfway point of the session.
Woodrum stated that many of this year’s election bills were guided by public interest.
“Pretty much every public meeting I’m in, the thought of election fraud and people that have lost faith in the ability of the government to run a fair election comes up,” he told me.
Both Woodrum and Hillenbrand stated that the state does a good job of running elections, but there is room for improvement.
“Our secretary of state’s current and immediate predecessors worked extremely hard to tighten it up. So, overall, I believe we’re in a good place,” Hillenbrand said. “But like most things in life, there’s always a little room for improvement.”
In the House, Del. J.B. Akers, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, stated that the Republican Caucus has prioritised election security legislation.
“Even though the Republicans won most of the races in the last election cycle by significant margins most of the time, they are acknowledging that voters do want secured elections and that these election bills are something that’s going to apply across the board, regardless of who’s in power,” Akers, R-Kanawha, said.
The House Judiciary Committee is still considering proposed voter photo ID changes, and House Bill 3016, sponsored by a Republican lawmaker, would eliminate the majority of the accepted forms of identification, leaving only six options: driver’s license, state ID, passport, employee ID, student ID, and military ID. The American Civil Liberties Union’s state chapter is opposed to the bill.
While those bills move forward, Hansen is still waiting for his Republican colleagues to take up his bill, which seeks to modernise the state’s elections by updating absentee ballot procedures to make it more difficult to challenge signature matches.
