On February 20, eight West Virginia legislators introduced HB 3144, to move the petition deadline for unqualified party and independent candidates from May to August. The presidential petition deadline is already in August, so the bill would change petition deadlines for office other than president to match the presidential petition deadline. The chief sponsor is Delegate Barbara Fleischauer, who is the wife of Law Professor Bob Bastress. Bastress has done virtually all of the ballot access litigation in West Virginia for 26 years, and has won many cases. He currently has a case pending in the State Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the May petition deadline.

The bill’s other Democratic sponsors are Alex Shook, Linda Longstreth, Bonnie Brown, Danny Wells, Barbara Hatfield, and John Doyle. The bill also has a Republican sponsor, Bill Hamilton.