House 5228

WEST virginia legislature

2026 regular session

Committee Substitute

for

House Bill 5228

By Delegates Funkhouser, Akers, Holstein, Ridenour, Heckert, and Martin
[By Request of the Office of the Secretary of State]

[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary; Reported on February 16, 2026]

A BILL to amend and reenact §3-9-9 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to clarifying the definition of electioneering; describing certain prohibited electioneering information or activity; exempting from the definition of "electioneering" certain activity and materials; permitting certain persons to enforce election laws and maintain law and order inside the prohibited zone; and permitting certain persons to seek assistance from law-enforcement officer.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 9. OFFENSES AND PENALTIES.

§3-9-9. Electioneering defined; unlawful acts at polling places; exceptions; penalties.

(a) As used in this section, "electioneering" means the displaying of signs or other campaign paraphernalia, the distribution of campaign literature, cards, or handbills, the soliciting of signatures to any petition, or the solicitation of votes for or against any bona fide candidate or ballot question in a manner which expressly advocates the election or defeat of the candidate or expressly advocates the passage or defeat of the ballot question visible display or audible dissemination of information that advocates for or against any candidate or ballot question.

(b) Prohibited electioneering information or activity includes, but is not limited to, any of the following:

(1) A display of a candidate or candidate’s committee name, likeness, or logo;

(2) A display of a ballot question’s number, title, subject, or logo;

(3) Buttons, hats, pencils, pens, shirts, pins, signs, stickers, and similar items that contain electioneering information;

(4) The distribution of campaign literature, cards, or handbills containing electioneering information;

(5) The soliciting of signatures to any petition; and

(6) The verbal or electronic soliciting of votes for or against any bona fide candidate or ballot question in a manner which expressly advocates the election or defeat of the candidate or expressly advocates the passage or defeat of the ballot question.

(c) "Electioneering" does not include:

(1) A representative of the news media conducting exit polling, so as long as persons conducting exit polling are not otherwise engaging in electioneering activities described above in subsection (b) of this section; and

(2) bumper Bumper stickers or signs affixed to a person’s vehicle which is parked within or passing through a distance of 100 feet of the entrance to a polling place while such that person is voting or transporting any voter to the polls.

(b) (d) No An officer of election may not disclose to any person the name of any candidate for whom a voter has voted. No An officer of election may not do any electioneering on election day.

(c) (e) No A person may not do any electioneering on election day within any polling place, or within 100 feet of the outside entrance to the building housing the polling place. No A person may not do any electioneering in the polling place or within 100 feet of the outside entrance of any polling place where early voting is conducted during the period in which early voting is offered during the hours while such early voting is actually taking place. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit prohibits a citizen from doing any electioneering upon his or her own private property, regardless of distance from the polling place, so as long as that electioneering conforms to other existing laws and ordinances.

(d) (f) No A person may not apply for or receive any ballot in any polling place, other than that in which the person is entitled to vote, nor may any person examine a ballot which any voter has prepared for voting, or solicit the voter to show the same, nor ask, nor make any arrangement, directly or indirectly, with any voter, to vote an open ballot. No A person, except a commissioner of election, may not receive from any voter a ballot prepared by him or her for voting. No A voter may not receive a ballot from any person other than one of the poll clerks; nor may any person other than a poll clerk deliver a ballot to a commissioner of election to be voted by such the commissioner. No A voter may not deliver any ballot to a commissioner of election to be voted, except the one he or she receives from the poll clerk. No A voter may not place any mark upon his or her ballot or suffer or permit any other person to do so, by which it may be afterward identified as the ballot voted by him or her.

(e) (g) Whoever violates any provision of this section shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, on upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $1,000, or confined in jail for not more than one year, or both fined and confined.

(h) Any precinct election official, county clerk, deputy county clerk, municipal election official, or any law-enforcement official may enforce the election laws and maintain law and order at the polling place and within 100 feet of any entrance to the building in which voting is conducted.

(i) Any precinct election official, county clerk, deputy county clerk, or municipal election official may request the assistance of any law-enforcement officer.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify the definition of electioneering; describe certain prohibited electioneering information or activity; exempt from the definition of "electioneering" certain activity and materials; permit certain persons to enforce election laws and maintain law and order inside the prohibited zone; and permit certain persons to seek assistance from law-enforcement officer.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading, or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.