SB 61 West Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Prohibiting acceptance of illegal ballots cast in any election

This bill prohibits election officials in West Virginia from counting ballots that violate specific legal requirements, including those cast in the wrong precinct, provisional ballots submitted on election day, and ballots with uncorrectable procedural errors. It removes county commission discretion to overlook technical mistakes that clearly indicate a voter was not eligible to vote, while still allowing ballots to be counted if errors can be reasonably explained as unintentional. The legislation also establishes criminal penalties for election officials who fail to reject illegal ballots or count them in violation of the new rules, and creates a system for voters to check if their provisional ballots were counted.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 14, 2026 Last action Feb 3, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version → Committee Substitute · 8 edits

MODERATE

This bill was amended from a single-sponsor introduction to a committee substitute with co-sponsors, expanding its scope from only prohibiting illegal ballot acceptance to also addressing incorrect precinct voting, provisional ballot handling, and county commission discretion over technical errors. The changes clarify eligibility criteria, strengthen enforcement language, and add specific code references to improve legal clarity.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from exclusively prohibiting illegal ballot acceptance to also cover incorrect precinct voting, provisional ballot counting restrictions, and county commission discretion regarding technical errors in ballot processing.

ENFORCEMENT

Added 'with the intent to commit fraud' language to criminal penalties in §3-9-19(c) to strengthen the intent requirement for felony charges.

Added 'or both fined and imprisoned' to §3-9-19(b) penalties for county officials who disclose how absent voters voted.

REQUIREMENT

Added specific code references (§3-1-34, §3-3-10, §3-1-28) throughout the bill to clarify which sections govern specific requirements.

Changed 'oversights' to 'oversights' and 'rules' to 'rules' in §3-1-41(e) for consistency and clarity regarding technical errors.

Changed 'Internet website' to 'internet website' and 'state-wide' to 'statewide' for consistency in terminology.

Added 'his or her' to §3-1-41(h) for clarity regarding voters showing proof of new address.

ELIGIBILITY

Added specific reference to §3-1-34(b) for handicapped persons whose polling locations are not accessible when casting ballots in incorrect precincts.

TECHNICAL

Corrected grammar in §3-1-41(a) by removing redundant 'shall' and changing 'Members' to 'Members' for consistency.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 2, 2026

How they voted

32–1

Passed

Total votes 33

Feb 2, 2026

D Democratic2

1 Yea 1 Nay

50% Nay

R Republican31

31 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 3, 2026

Committee

To House Judiciary

lower

Feb 3, 2026

Committee

To Judiciary

lower

Feb 3, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

Feb 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate (Roll No. 27)

upper

Jan 28, 2026

Upper · Passed

Committee substitute reported

upper

Jan 14, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

Jan 14, 2026

Committee

To Judiciary

upper

1 primary · 2 co-sponsors