SB 490 West Virginia Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Prohibiting ranked-choice voting in elections in West Virginia

SB 490 prohibits the use of ranked-choice voting in all West Virginia elections, including local, state, and federal races. The law directly affects voters and election officials by banning this voting method statewide, replacing it with traditional single-choice voting. It amends election law to explicitly prohibit ranked-choice voting procedures, effective August 8, 2025, after being signed by the governor on March 18, 2025. This change applies to all elections held under West Virginia law moving forward.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Mar 2025

House of Delegates Passage

Mar 2025

Signed into Law

Aug 2025

Introduced Feb 14, 2025 Signed Aug 8, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version → Enrolled Version · 2 edits · Mar 19, 2025

MINOR

The bill was transitioned from an introduced draft to an enrolled final version, adding a new provision that prohibits ranked-choice voting in West Virginia elections. The final version includes a new subsection (c) that voids any existing or future local ordinances conflicting with the prohibition, strengthening the law's enforcement mechanism.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains the same - prohibiting ranked-choice voting in all elections - but the enrolled version adds explicit language to invalidate conflicting local ordinances, ensuring statewide uniformity.

ENFORCEMENT

Added subsection (c) which voids any existing or future local ordinances that conflict with the ranked-choice voting prohibition, preventing municipalities from adopting alternative voting methods.

TECHNICAL

Removed introductory metadata and formatting from the introduced version (committee references, introduction date) and replaced with final enrolled version headers and legislative status information.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 4, 2025 · House of Delegates Mar 7, 2025

How they voted

30–2

Passed · 1 other

Total votes 33

Mar 4, 2025

D Democratic2

2 Nay

100% Nay

R Republican31

30 Yea 1

96% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 19, 2025

Signed into law

Approved by Governor 3/18/2025 - Senate Journal

upper

Mar 18, 2025

Signed into law

Approved by Governor 3/18/25

upper

Mar 18, 2025

Signed into law

Approved by Governor 3/19/2025 - House Journal

lower

Mar 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed House (Roll No. 38)

lower

Mar 5, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

Mar 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate (Roll No. 59)

upper

Feb 27, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported do pass

upper

Feb 14, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

Feb 14, 2025

Committee

To Judiciary

upper

1 primary · 3 co-sponsors