Today’s post is primarily for my fellow West Virginians: Amendment 1, to prohibit medically assisted death, narrowly passed on Nov. 5, by less than one percentage point — and reporting from West Virginia Watch and WCHS Eyewitness News suggest at least some voters accidentally voted the opposite of what they intended.
If you’ve been following this blog, you may have read the deep-dive I did on Amendment 1 — what it means and its future implications. But many West Virginia voters didn’t have the advantage of a detailed explanation before going to the polls. In fact, many voters didn’t even have the advantage of seeing the amendment’s entire text. All that appeared on the ballot was “The purpose of this amendment is to protect West Virginians against medically assisted suicide.” The instructions simply said, “To vote in favor of the Amendment submitted, darken the oval next to ‘FOR’. To vote against the Amendment, darken the oval next to ‘AGAINST’.”
One woman in Berkely County told West Virginia Watch she was confused by the wording, so she asked a poll worker which she should select if she wanted to protect assisted suicide. The poll worker incorrectly told her to vote in favor of the amendment.
A man in Mingo County told WCHS he had researched the amendment and was still confused by the wording on the ballot. He asked a poll worker for a copy of the full amendment to read, and the poll worker said they didn’t have it.
Both said they later went on social media and heard from friends, family, and acquaintances that they, too, were confused by the wording. Several said they had accidently voted the opposite way of what they wanted (i.e., in favor of the amendment even though they wanted to protect medically assisted suicide).
To be clear: Medically assisted suicide — also called physician-assisted suicide or medically assisted death — is already illegal in West Virginia. The constitutional amendment makes it virtually impossible for medically assisted death to ever become legal in the state.
The woman in Berkely County reached out to her representative, Sen. Patricia Rucker, to see if there could be a recount or a revote. Rucker replied, she didn’t think so, but “if it passes by a slim majority, at that point, we should have a discussion as to whether it was a legitimate victory and were there enough people who understood to take into account. We want to make sure the constitutional amendments are truly supported by West Virginia.”
The amendment passed 50.5% to 49.5% — one percentage point, translating to roughly 6,000 votes. Considering all the reports of confusion and that over 94,000 West Virginians chose not to vote on the amendment at all, there should most definitely be a “discussion as to whether it was a legitimate victory.” WCHS has a poll going, asking readers if they understood the ballot question. At the time I viewed the poll, there were 882 votes, and 63% of respondents said they didn’t understand what they had voted for.
So what can we, as West Virginia citizens, do?
Call, email, and write to our representatives demanding that Amendment 1 get a re-vote — this time with the full text on the ballot and better outreach to explain to voters what the amendment means.
You can find your local senator and his/her contact information here: https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Senate1/roster.cfm
And your local delegate and his/her contact information here: https://www.wvlegislature.gov/House/roster.cfm
The Secretary of State’s office has also said voters can “file a writ of mandamus to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeal to revoke certification,” according to WCHS.
I’m pretty good with legalese, but the processes and procedures of filing a writ of mandamus are over my head — and something I suspect requires a law degree to accomplish. I’m hoping there’s already a lawyer or legal group working on this. I’ve reached out to the ACLU of West Virginia to ask if this is something it is pursuing; I’ll update this post when/if I hear back.
Our participation in our governing systems does not end with casting a ballot. We always have the option to contact our representatives and to network with advocates when we feel our government is not accurately representing constituents’ interests.
In this case, I doubt the final tally on Amendment 1 is an accurate reflection of what West Virginia voters actually wanted. So it’s up to us to demand a do-over.
J. Nelson - Writer 