HB 2117 West Virginia House of Delegates · 2025 Regular Session

Relating to when Mail In Ballots are Due

HB 2117 changes the deadline for submitting mail-in ballot applications in West Virginia. It requires most voters' applications to be received by the sixth day before an election, while qualified first responders must submit theirs by 5:00 p.m. the day before the election. The bill maintains the same deadline (six days before) for overseas and uniformed services voters. This affects all voters requesting mail-in ballots, adjusting the timing for when applications must be accepted by election officials.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

House of Delegates Passage

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 12, 2025 Last action Mar 7, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Committee Substitute → Engrossed Committee Substitute · 2 edits · Mar 6, 2025

MINOR

The bill was formally renamed from 'Committee Substitute' to 'Engrossed Version,' indicating it has passed committee review. Substantively, the law now explicitly lists immediate family members and caregivers as authorized individuals who can request absentee ballot applications on behalf of a voter, whereas previously only the voter could make such requests. Additionally, the penalty for election officials who unsolicitedly mail applications was slightly tightened by removing the word 'or' to ensure the prohibition applies strictly to the specific act of mailing without a request.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding who can request absentee ballots was expanded to include family members and caregivers.

REQUIREMENT

Added specific authorization for immediate family members and caregivers to request absentee ballot applications on behalf of a voter.

ENFORCEMENT

Clarified the penalty for election officials mailing unsolicited applications by removing ambiguous phrasing to strictly prohibit the action.

Floor votes · House of Delegates Mar 6, 2025

How they voted

86–14

Passed

Total votes 100

Mar 6, 2025

D Democratic9

9 Nay

100% Nay

R Republican91

86 Yea 5 Nay

94% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 7, 2025

Committee

To Government Organization

upper

Mar 7, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

Mar 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed House (Roll No. 32)

lower

Mar 3, 2025

Lower · Passed

By substitute, do pass

lower

Feb 24, 2025

Committee

To House Judiciary

lower

Feb 13, 2025

Committee

To House Legal Services

lower

Feb 12, 2025

Committee

To House Judiciary

lower

Feb 12, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

Feb 12, 2025

Committee

To Judiciary

lower

1 primary · 7 co-sponsors