Election legislation could attract lawsuits
by admin on 29/03/10 at 5:43 am
By Lawrence Messina
The Associated Press
March 28, 2010
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia officials may wind up in court over a pair of measures passed this legislative session that would change how elections are conducted.
Gov. Joe Manchin has already signed one of the bills, which offers public funding to state Supreme Court candidates in 2012. The other bill, still awaiting his review, revisits efforts to regulate third-party election advertising.
The latter measure will likely rekindle a legal fight over such rules. The Center for Competitive Politics, meanwhile, may sue over the public financing pilot program, group spokesman Jeff Patch said.
“We oppose taxpayer financing as a matter of policy,” Patch said, adding that the center had made no final decision regarding legal action.
With two court seats up in 2012, the pilot program would provide candidates who qualify with initial amounts of $200,000 for a contested primary and $350,000 for a contested general election.
Among other concerns, Patch cited the program’s provision that would provide additional “rescue” funds to participating candidates. Spending more than 20 percent of those initial amounts by third parties or nonparticipating candidates would trigger the release of up to $400,000 for a primary and $700,000 for a general election.
The legislation cites the state’s increasingly expensive Supreme Court contests, and the accompanying criticism that the amounts and sources of campaign cash undermine public confidence in the judiciary. The nonpartisan center opposes campaign finance limits, and believes the provision violates the free speech rights of nonparticipants.
“Money does not get out of politics. It just goes in different directions,” Patch said. “We just think this is a waste of time and resources.”
