As the 2024 presidential election approaches, it is widely expected that Republican candidate Donald Trump will secure a decisive victory in West Virginia, capturing the state’s four electoral votes with ease. However, a group of Republican lawmakers in West Virginia’s House of Delegates is pushing for the state to take a more prominent stance on the legitimacy of the election itself.
Five members of the House of Delegates recently introduced House Concurrent Resolution 203, which challenges the integrity of the upcoming national election. The resolution declares that the West Virginia Legislature will refuse to acknowledge the results of a presidential election deemed “illegitimate.” Central to their claim is the assertion that there is “overwhelming evidence” suggesting non-citizens are being registered to vote in the 2024 election.
The resolution’s language goes beyond general concerns and specifically outlines a variety of scenarios under which West Virginia could withhold recognition of the election outcome. The lawmakers’ concerns focus on allegations of election fraud or tampering in any state, implying that even isolated incidents of interference could invalidate the entire election in their eyes. According to the text of the resolution, if “election interference” is detected, West Virginia would not accept the election of the president, raising questions about how the state might handle certification of results and participate in the broader electoral process.
While Trump’s victory in the state seems certain, this move by Republican delegates signals a deeper skepticism about the national election process and could be indicative of broader challenges to the outcome if similar sentiments take hold in other states. The introduction of the resolution also highlights ongoing divisions within the country regarding election security, with some lawmakers continuing to push narratives that question the legitimacy of election processes and results on a broader scale.
Here’s the full language of the resolution:
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 203
(By Delegates Ridenour, Mazzocchi, Dillon, Longanacre, Coop-Gonzalez, Foster, Foggin, Steele, and Butler)
[Introduced October 6, 2024; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
Requesting that the West Virginia Legislature shall not recognize an illegitimate presidential election.
Whereas, a Constitutionally valid government only exists and endures when elections are conducted in accordance with all applicable legal requirements and are free of violence or threats of violence, government manipulation, censorship, coercion, fraudulent voting, or manipulation of votes, election tabulation, and/or election results by any means whatsoever; and that
Whereas, in the 2024 election cycle there have been, to date, two assassination attempts on the Republican nominee for President of the United States while threats of assassination of the Republican nominees for president and vice president abound. The federal government, under the current Democrat-led regime, has utterly failed, and continues to fail, in a suspicious manner, in its absolute duty to adequately protect the Republican nominee for president; and that
Whereas, the Constitutions of the United States and the State of West Virginia require that only legal citizens may vote in U.S. and West Virginia elections, and that there is abundant evidence that non-citizens have been and are being registered to vote in the national election of 2024; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That, the sovereign State of West Virginia declares it will not recognize an election for President if such election is enabled by illegal or fraudulent acts; and be it
Further Resolved, That, the State of West Virginia will not recognize any election of the Democrat candidate for President during the 2024 election cycle if the Republican presidential or vice-presidential candidate is assassinated, seriously injured during an assassination attempt, incarcerated, de facto eliminated or barred from the ballot in any states, or is the subject of legal actions that preclude their effective campaigning; and be it
Further Resolved, That, the State of West Virginia will not recognize an election of a candidate for President during the 2024 election cycle if the Attorney General of West Virginia or the Secretary of State of West Virginia, in consultation with the West Virginia Legislature, determine that election fraud in any state was a major reason that resulted in a candidate for President obtaining a majority in the Electoral College. Election fraud includes non-citizen voting, vote buying, ballot forgery, illegal or illicit ballot harvesting, illegal or illicit discarding of legal votes or voter registrations, ballot miscounts, algorithmic manipulation of votes or vote tabulations, cyber-attack or manipulation, or intimidation. Election fraud also includes interference by any government entities, including arrests or prosecutions for apparent political motives, or other forms of persecution using legal or official processes, to negatively affect an electoral process, or a political entity participating in an electoral process, using unconstitutional, extraconstitutional, illegal, or otherwise illegitimate means, including those under the color of law or office; and be it
Further Resolved, That, the State of West Virginia will not recognize an election of a candidate for President, if the Attorney General of West Virginia or the Secretary of State of West Virginia, in consultation with the West Virginia Legislature, determine that election interference by the federal government, foreign governments, or other state governments was a key factor that resulted in a candidate for President obtaining a majority in the Electoral College. Election interference includes censorship, information suppression or manipulation, or other unconstitutional, extraconstitutional, illegal, or otherwise illegitimate actions by the federal government, foreign governments, or other state governments, either directly or in collusion with elements of the media, social media entities, information entities, or political entities; and be it
Further Resolved, Thereupon a determination by the Legislature of West Virginia, in consultation with the Attorney General and Secretary of State, of either the illegal or illicit elimination of the Republican presidential or vice presidential candidate during the 2024 election cycle; or election fraud or election interference resulting in the Constitutionally illegitimate selection of a President during the 2024 election cycle, the Legislature will be called into special session by the Governor to consider actions to preserve the Freedom of our People.
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House forward a copy of this resolution to the Attorney General of the State of West Virginia, the Secretary of State of West Virginia, and the Governor of West Virginia; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House forward a copy of this resolution to the United States Congress.
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