1. United States
2. W.V.
3. Letter

I'm writing today to urge you to oppose HB4600, which would create barriers to participation in elections by those who have to use absentee voting. This legislation could disenfranchise a number of West Virginians, including members of the military and first responders. HB4600 would require that all ballots for the primary and general elections be received by the close of polls on election day. Ballots are already required to be received by election officials by the day after the election or postmarked by the election day. Changing the deadline could result in votes by hard-working people not being counted. Overseas mail delivery can be unreliable, which could cause ballots by WV service members to not be counted, despite them doing everything correctly. It would be a grave injustice to take away rights from those who fight to make sure we continue to have them. First responders may be called into action at any time, and this might interfere with their ability to get ballots in on time. Additionally, removing the ability to rely on the postmarked date of ballots is also going to cause confusion. Disruptions in the Federal government that are affecting the US Mail system have caused significant delays in mail delivery times and could also impact absentee voters if this legislation passes. The changes created by HB4600 will take away the hard-earned vote of a number of people without creating any significant benefit for the election process. I ask you to protect your constituents' right to have their vote counted and vote against HB4600.