West Virginia Supreme Court Hears Argument on Secrecy of Names and Addresses of Petition Signers

On September 8, the West Virginia State Supreme Court heard arguments in Shepherdstown Observer v Maghan, no. 35446.  The issue is whether the names and addresses of people who sign petitions should be released to the public.  See this story.


Comments

West Virginia Supreme Court Hears Argument on Secrecy of Names and Addresses of Petition Signers — 3 Comments

  1. “Lawyer Stephanie Grove, representing Maghan, maintained that position Wednesday. She likened these signatures to actual election ballots, which are secret.”

    Well, yes and no:
    1) Petition signatures ARE NOT VOTES, and we tell our signers that.
    2) However, in WVa, a voter signature on a ballot access petition COUNTS AS voting activity and can keep inactive voters from having their registration purged.
    3) We also tell our signers that their names will be sold or used for any sort of mailing list, and the CPWV does not keep copies.
    4) And, I know that some of the folks who signed for me were public officials, and even some candidates. Public disclosure might be a problem, though the county clerks who verified the signatures know who signed.

  2. Any pro or con petitions regarding slavery in 1860 in the parts of VA that became WV in 1863 — by direct force of the Union Army ???

    One more constitutional amendment needed ???

    Each Elector shall have the absolute right to secretly sign any public petition of any type.

    [since the mere 1st Amdt may NOT be enough for the party hack courts].

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