West Virginians for Common Sense.
            

Morgantown’s 2021 Election Shows Need for Election Reform

Aligning Morgantown's election has been an option for Council. A 7.8% low voter turnout shows need to align off-races to maximize engagement.

As reported by WVMetroNews, unofficial results shared by WAJR show a small percentage (7.8%) of Morgantown voters cast ballots in the 2021 municipal election, where five of of seven races were contested in some way. The 1,517 total votes cast in 2021 are down from a recent 2017 “high” of 15% voter turnout, when 15 percent of the electorate (then 18,076 registered voters) in the city cast ballots.

After Morgantown’s election results were announced, Kyle McAvoy, president, West Virginians for Common Sense, remarked, “Our growing network of members will continue advocating for common sense solutions in government. Morgantown is the poster child for why election reform is needed locally, and across West Virginia.”

In 2021, H.B. 2592 passed the West Virginia House of Delegates by a three-to-one margin, only to die in the West Virginia Senate in the last week of the legislative session. West Virginians for Common Sense advocated for passage and will take-up that effort again.

“Options exist locally in Morgantown to align elections via a citizen referendum petition, but in a state struggling to regain population and find efficiencies, the issue goes beyond Morgantown and municipal elections. Locally this year, two Preston County towns found themselves in situations whereby nobody signed up to run, and they may change to align elections going forward. As a state, we can do better.” said Wes Nugent, vice-president, West Virginians for Common Sense.”

Improving civic participation and voter turnout isn’t a partisan issue. Former Morgantown Mayor Bill Byrne would seem to agree. In response to Morgantown’s low voter turnout in the April 2017 election, Byrne tweeted:

With Morgantown having adopted a Charter amendment to stagger and lengthen terms, the question remains will interest and participation continue to wane.  McAvoy agreed saying, “It’s hard to imagine a scenario where more candidates will be interested and motivated to run by Morgantown’s Charter change. Candidates on the ballot bring voter interest. Council could have taken steps to eliminate barriers to getting on the ballot when options were considered in May 2020, but this is what was agreed to be put before the voters.”

“Other considerations can be put before the voters to generate more interest and participation, not just aligning elections but ideas like term limits too,” said Nugent.

West Virginians for Common Sense leaders agree more work lies ahead to continue efforts. “Our political action committee welcomes working with leaders at all levels – local, county, stand statewide – to research and advocate for common sense, middle ground solutions, like aligning elections,” added McAvoy.

Flags taped to the door of a polling place.
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Malfeasance

Malfeasance in office is the doing of an act for which there is no authority or warrant of law.

Misfeasance

Misfeasance is the wrongful and injurious exercise of lawful authority — that is, the doing of an act which might lawfully be done, but is done in an improper manner.

Nonfeasance

Nonfeasance is a term used in tort law to describe inaction that allows or results in harm to a person or to property. An act of nonfeasance can result in liability if (1) the actor owed a duty of care toward the injured person, (2) the actor failed to act on that duty, and (3) the failure to act resulted in injury.

While it’s tabled now, City Council may take up its MUB takeover later.

Three City Councilors: Bill Kawecki, Jenny Selin, and Dave Harshbarger were adamant about moving forward to restructure MUB. Shame on them! Ironically, these councilors have two more full years left in their term, which increases the importance of the recall effort to remove them now.

For now, the other four Councilmembers have tabled the issue, but pressure is inevitably being placed on the holdouts, and some, like Deputy Mayor Danielle Trumble, have expressed a desire to move forward.

No MUB customer is safe.

Whether you’re a MUB customer in Morgantown’s city limits or across the Mason-Dixon in Pennsylvania, know this is an attempt by Morgantown City Council to further enact its will upon your property and your life.

Don’t be lulled into complacency thinking the issue will go away. If past history tells us anything, City Council may still try to implement its misguided agenda fueled by obstience.

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