MORGANTOWN – The city of Morgantown would like the West Virginia Legislature to provide some additional guidance regarding its election alignment mandate.
Senate Bill 50 – passed during the most recent legislative session and signed into law by Gov. Patrick Morrisey – requires municipalities to align their respective elections with either the statewide primary or general elections conducted by the counties each May and November of even-numbered years, respectively.
The law requires all municipalities to be in compliance by 2032.
But moving the city’s election date requires changing the city’s charter, which introduces uncertainty, and a potential roadblock to the process.
There are two methods by which the city’s charter can be changed – by ordinance or by election.
Morgantown City Council can change the charter by ordinance by voting to do so on two readings separated by a 30-day public comment period. However, if a single city resident files commentary objecting to the change, council must either abandon the issue or place it before the city’s voters.
Council could also choose to bypass that process and place it directly on a city ballot.
Regardless of which route the city council chooses, the question of whether or not a charter change is ultimately passed is largely out of its control.
“In either case, the governing body may take all reasonable actions to comply with SB50 but be left with an election date that is not on the statewide primary or general election date. If that occurs, there is no default option in state law – the municipality cannot simply hold its election on the primary date if no charter amendment passes,” the city administration points out in preparation for a discussion of legislative priorities slated for tonight’s regular council meeting.
Potential solutions, the city notes, would be amending SB50 to bypass the charter change process or letting cities maintain their standalone elections if that is the will of the city’s voters.
While Morgantown’s administration and council have already mapped the city’s course to compliance with SB50 – and began the charter change process by ordinance – they would like clarification on this issue before moving forward.
In May, attorney Ryan Simonton laid out a plan that would see the city conduct its first municipal election as part of the county’s ballot in May 2030. In order to move from its odd-year cycle to the state’s even-year election cycle, the city would conduct its own elections as normal in April of 2027 and 2029, but the winning council candidates in each would be elected to three-year terms. Terms would revert back to the standard four years in 2030.
On June 3, Morgantown City Council voted unanimously on first reading to approve a charter change setting that process in motion despite multiple members stating they were doing so reluctantly following the change to state code.
The charter change ordinance was expected back before city council on July 15 for a second reading and potential adoption, but has never returned.
