YES! West Virginia's Clean Elections Bill Moving Forward

Our chances for real election reform never have been better! Even elected officials seem offended by the obscene amount of money special interest groups spent on the 2004 elections.

Blowing the top right off the offense-o-meter was Massey Energy’s CEO Don Blankenship, who spent $3.5 million of his own money to oust Supreme Court Judge Warren McGraw.  Mix that in with sleazy campaign ads and some flagrant ethics violations, and we have an ideal climate in which to press forward with fair and clean election reform.

So it was that during a Jan. 9 legislative interim session, a committee asked it counsel to draw up a pilot project bill for public funding of legislative races.

OVEC’s co-director Janet Fout coordinates Citizens For Clean Elections, which is advocating for this real campaign reform – the reform which makes all other reforms possible!  

According to the Charleston Gazette: 

"The committee chose a plan that would provide public financing for two state Senate and three House of Delegates races. The House of Delegates races would have to be in single-member districts.

  "The estimated cost of the pilot project is $375,000. To qualify, a candidate would have to raise a certain number of $5 contributions: 200 for the Senate, and 75 for the House of Delegates.

  "Supporters of the proposal say it will encourage more people to run for office, and decrease the influence of special interests in the election process…"

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