So one of the new laws passed in the last WV legislative session is really strange—really:

(d) For purposes of §3-1-3(a)(6):

(1) “Legal resident” means a person who is domiciled in the state, county, or municipality in which he or she offers to vote and includes both physical presence within the state, county, or municipality and an intent to remain in the state, county, or municipality indefinitely.

WTF does “indefinitely” mean, and how do you prove it?

One case where this approach was taken was Symm v. United States which tried to disenfranchise college students who registered in the state in which they were attending college. And while WVU does have a large out-of-state enrollment, well, it’s moot because even if it’s not a tipping point for any elections that include Morgantown, it’s unconstitutional and so no further discussion is needed there.

Where is gets weird is this:  this law would disenfranchise me because I intend to move out of WV in a few years, even though I have lived here longer than the governor has lived here. And unlike Jersey Pat, I didn’t move here to grift off the WV taxpayers. His legislation might have disqualified him.

This legislation was introduced by my state senator, who is a wingnut, which explains everything. The few Democrats in the state house also thought it was a bad bill:

The House amended and passed Senate Bill 59, relating to voter eligibility and residency requirements, in a 92-4 vote with three absent or not voting. The bill, which now heads back to the Senate, would establish procedures for residency challenges for voters and define the criteria used to determine a voter’s legal residence. It creates legal tests for residency based on an individual’s physical presence and their intent to remain in a district indefinitely and establishes a “bedroom test” for properties bisected by jurisdictional boundaries.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman JB Akers said the committee’s amendment to SB 59 came about after discussions with the Secretary of State’s Office regarding a similar piece of legislation, House Bill 5219.

“It clarifies that many of these provisions apply only when residency is challenged and specifies the method of review,” said Akers, R-Kanawha. “It provides greater clarity and ease of use.”

“The Legislature has never defined residency, and this before us codifies the case law regarding intention to remain, where you only get one residence,” said Del. Joe Funkhouser, R-Jefferson.

Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, was one of the four members who opposed the bill. He said SB 59 was too vague and could cause some voters to be disenfranchised.

“There’s some ambiguity about how this is written. I don’t feel like this is well written,” said Pushkin, chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party. “I don’t think this clarifies things. I think it makes things a little bit messier about whether you intend to remain in your home indefinitely.”

I definitely agree.

The governor has also taken it upon himself to take the unprecedented step of interfering in the state GOP primary:

West Virginia’s governor is making no apologies for breaking from traditional party norms as he takes a more aggressive political approach.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey said he plans to endorse and potentially favor certain GOP candidates in the primary, despite Ronald Reagan’s informal “Eleventh Commandment” to avoid criticizing fellow Republicans.

The governor signaled he intends to play an active role in shaping the May primary.

“I get behind people for the right reasons, people that support a West Virginia that’s growing, that has a better standard of living and they’re not playing all the political games, people that are are going to do the right thing for our state,” Morrisey said Wednesday. “I’m going to stand strong and I’m just beginning the process. We’re going to evaluate everyone.”

And to do it, he’s been getting help from out-of-state millionaires:

West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey continues to raise money in his efforts to primary members of his party.

The latest influx of cash comes from Sugar Maple PAC, an Independent Expenditure PAC that shares the same address and Treasurer, Charles Gantt, as West Virginia Prosperity and Black Bear PAC, both established pro-Morrisey committees.

Since February, Sugar Maple PAC has raised $565,000 from only 22 sources, the average donation being around $25,000.

Yes, the governor of Dollar Store Gilead is spending out-of-state money to defeat WV lawmakers that are standing in his way. And because Jersey Pat isn’t the brightest bulb (see the cover image), he is walking into a problem of his own making now that he is deliberately antagonizing the Republicans in the state legislature because if the Republicans who he is targeting win, they won’t work to help reelect him

And the donations to the PAC appear to be illegal except WV passed a law to make them legal so I’m sure that’s all good and fine:

Nonprofits with the 501(c)(3) designation, like the yes. every kid. foundation, are forbidden from donating to political causes at the cost of their tax-exempt status.

“Under state law, the Sugar Maple PAC is legally permitted to accept a contribution of $100,000 from a domestic corporation,” said Donald Kersey, chief deputy to the Secretary of State.  

Which brings us to one last twist:  the governor insisted that the WV GOP close its primary this year to shut independents out so his completely out there preferred candidates can win. This is another Morrisey mistake because antagonizing a group of your loyal voters is a bad idea. And propping up extremists isn’t smart, either. WV already banned abortion and gleefully bullies transgender kids. Morrissey and his super extremists want more bullet points on their political resumes, like destroying WV’s excellent history of child vaccinations, and there really isn’t an appetite for it. And a lot of WVians oppose data centers.

So he’s got his work cut out for him.

I’ll leave you with this: