Legislators Shun Citizen Scrutiny

Yesterday afternoon, the West Virginia House of Delegates voted against the process proposal by Delegate Tim Armstead (R-Kanawha) to create 100 single member delegate districts, but, and perhaps even sadder, they also voted against allowing a reasonable time for grass-roots citizen voters to be able to review and provide feedback to legislators on the gerrymandered redistricting proposal before allowing amendment votes.

Only 36 members of the House of Delegates voted in favor of allowing citizens the opportunity to review and provide comment on HB#106 prior to further action by the House of Delegates (Roll call #510, 36 votes yea and 61 votes nay, Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011).

In the Eastern Panhandle, voting FOR further citizen review and feedback were Berkeley and Morgan County Delegates Larry D. Kump, Daryl Cowles, Walter Duke, Jonathan Miller, John Overington, and Eric Householder. Voting AGAINST further citizen review and feedback were Jefferson County Delegates Tiffany Lawrence and John Doyle.

HB#106 was written behind closed doors by Delegate John Doyle (D-Jefferson) and the House of Delegates Leadership. As has been otherwise and widely reported by the media, it was not written by or even reviewed in committee by the House of Delegates Redistricting Committee prior to their Tuesday morning (August 2nd) meeting. Further, and at the insistence of the House Leadership, all attempts that morning by committee members (in both political parties) to amend HB#106 were summarily squelched.

Further amendments to HB#106 will be considered on by the West Virginia House of Delegates after the session convenes at 12:00 Noon on Thursday, August 4th, 2011 (today).

To contact any or all Delegates, click on the "WV State Legislature" link on the right hand side of this webpage.

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