West Virginians running for judicial positions may soon be required to list their political affiliations on voters’ ballots, a potential departure from the state’s current nonpartisan approach to these elections that was adopted in 2015.
Senate Bill 521 would require justices for the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, court magistrates and circuit and family court judges to indicate their party membership on ballots for primary and general elections in the state.
The West Virginia Senate advanced the bill — proposed by Sen. Tom Willis, R-Berkeley — to a second reading Friday morning.
Since the state’s 2016 primary election, judge positions in the state have been voted upon on a nonpartisan basis at all levels. Where candidates for the West Virginia Legislature or the governor’s office must indicate their party affiliation alongside their name, no such distinction is required for prospective judges.
West Virginia is one of 13 states across the nation that conducts the election of judges on a fully nonpartisan basis.
Members of the West Virginia Legislature adopted the practice in the 2015 legislative session. Proponents like former Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan — who now serves on the state’s Supreme Court — previously said it removed political bias from the electoral process.
“I contend that whether a person is a Republican or Democrat, or a Whig or a Libertarian, or whatever, tells us really nothing about whether that person possesses the qualities and characteristics that we seek and desire in those who hold judicial office in West Virginia,” Trump said on the Senate floor in February 2015.
Senate President Randy Smith, R-Preston, advanced Senate Bill 521 to a second reading Friday, with no discussion on the Senate floor.
