H. B. 3199
(By Delegates Cowles, Shook, Ellem, Andes,
Moore, Michael
and J. Miller)
[Introduced March 18, 2009; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §1-2-2c, relating to
the redistricting of the House of Delegates into one hundred
single member districts after the 2010 census.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §1-2-2c, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2. APPORTIONMENT OF REPRESENTATION.
§1-2-2c. Redistricting.
(a) The Legislature finds that:
(1) Single member districts best exemplify the principle of
one person, one vote;
(2) Single member districts provide enhanced responsiveness to constituent needs, as the less constituents that each delegate
represents, the more time and energy a delegate shall have to
devote to their needs;
(3) Single member districts provide enhanced accountability,
as it is easier for citizens to follow the actions of one delegate
than to follow the actions of many;
(4) Single member districts would aid in the implementation of
campaign finance reform as these smaller districts would reduce the
amount of money needed for candidates to successfully contest
elections;
(5) Where large sums of money must be raised to compete in
multi-delegate districts, inordinate attention is given to the
interests of contributors, and not the citizenry as a whole;
(6) Historically, multi-member districts were a tactic used in
the segregation era to deny minority voters the full exercise of
their franchise;
(7) Multi-member districts continue to cause the
disenfranchisement of large groups of voters in whole regions of
West Virginia, including among others, voters in eastern Kanawha
County and Mason County;
(8) Only ten states do not utilize the single member district
system; and
(9) That of all the states in the Union, only West Virginia
and New Hampshire continue to have legislative districts consisting of three or more members.
(b) The Legislature, therefore, declares it to be in the best
interest of its citizens that:
(1) The State of West Virginia establish as a principle that
single member delegate districts are needed for better functioning
of our state's political system;
(2) Their use would lead to greater accountability and
effective representation in our political process;
(3) They would serve as a check on corruption of our public
life and our ideals;
(4) They would correct gross inequities currently present in
our existing system; and
(5) To achieve these ends, the policy of the state shall be to
enact a plan for single member districts.
(c) Based upon the aforesaid legislative findings and
declarations as contained within this section, the House of
Delegates is to be permanently composed of one hundred single
member districts, with apportionment to meet constitutional
standards, based upon the results of the 2010 United States Census.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create one hundred single
member districts after the 2010 census.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.