Lawmakers debate succession bill

Gov. Joe Manchin called legislators into a special session at noon with only two items on the agenda: legislation addressing the state’s succession issues, and an appropriations bill.

Because Byrd died with more than two-and-a-half years remaining in his Senate term, lawyers have disagreed about when a special election should, or could, be held. Secretary of State Natalie Tennant determined that the election wouldn’t be held until 2012—because this year’s primary has already passed. Attorney General Darrell McGraw disagreed and called for a special election later this year.

Manchin’s bill would allow for both a primary and a special election. When the legislation was first introduced, it was greeted skeptically by many. Senate Judiciary Chairman Jeff Kessler says he took issue with a provision that would have made a primary election unnecessary if there were only one candidate in a party.

“If we are establishing by statute that there’s a primary election, then we’re going to have a primary election,” he said. He added that he didn’t want anyone to make a long-shot bid and be accused of wasting the taxpayers’ money.

“When you have an open election, any John Q. Public that wants to run has the right in this democracy to go put their name on the dotted line and roll the dice and take their shot.”

That provision, along with one that would give the governor more discretion in setting special election dates, was removed before the bills were introduced in the House and the Senate.

The new version of the bill requires a special election whenever 30 or more months remain in the term. It was referred to both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. Before the committees met, both committee chairmen and their staffs met to iron out their disagreements.

Making changes in the state’s election law this late in the year poses difficulty for election workers. Diana Cromley is the Mason County Clerk, and the President of the County Clerks Association. She says the clock is ticking on the time left before the general election.

“Well we have deadlines that have to be met by code,” she said. “I have in front of me two pages of very fine print that we have to meet for the Nov. 2 general. In order for us for us to be able to have a special election primary before that, we would certainly have to have some modification of these dates.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee debated the bill for hours, but ultimately passed it with only minor language tweaks. On Thursday evening, the House hadn’t acted on the bill.

Gov. Manchin plans to announce his appointment for Byrd’s seat at 2:00 Friday afternoon. He hasn’t yet announced whether he’ll be running for the seat if legislation passes and there’s a special election in November.