The state of West Virginia currently does not have any laws that allow the citizens of the state to recall officials at the state and federal levels. This has allowed said officials to vote or take actions that do not follow in line with the beliefs of their said constituents. With such a law in place, elected officials will be held accountable as the citizens of the state will maintain the power to elect and remove elected officials who are deemed not in touch with their constituents, incompetent, or removed for committing criminal acts. Only legal residents of West Virginia who are able to vote in the state are to sign the petition. Those outside of the state have no say in who the citizens elect.

The West Virginia State Legislature will discuss and create a bill allowing the citizens of the state to recall elected officials at the state and federal levels. Components of the bill should include the following measures or forms of measures in order to provide proper information on what is needed and the steps that will be taken.

1) The number of signatures required should contain no less than 15% of the respective voters within the said district (state and federal). The party affiliation of signatories to a petition must be proportional to the party affiliation of the voters who cast votes for candidates for that office at the last preceding election.

2) A petition with the signatures required under demanding the recall of a United States Senator, a Representative to Congress, the Governor, a State Senator, or a State Representative must be filed with the Secretary of State and reviewed for compliance.

3) Within 30 days after the filing of a recall petition under this chapter, the filing officer with whom the recall petition is filed shall make an official declaration of the sufficiency or insufficiency of the petition.

4) Immediately upon determining that a petition is sufficient, but not later than 30 days after the date of the filing of the petition, the filing officer with whom the petition is filed shall call a recall election to determine whether the voters will recall the official.

5) If the recall petition is valid, the filing office will inform the public of the recall election within 45 days of finding the petition to be sufficient.

6) The procedure governing a recall election is the same as that by which the relevant elected official was elected to office. If the filing officer with whom the petition is filed is not required to give public notice of an election concerning the office in question, the filing officer shall give notice to the official or officials required by law to give public notice of the election, cause the ballots to be printed, provide election supplies and do all things necessary to conduct the election.

7) The recall election will be held within 90 days after the petition has been found sufficient.

8) If the results support the recall of the elected official, the official empowered by law to perform the duties of that recalled official in the event of that official's absence, death, illness, or inability to act shall perform and discharge the duties of the office vacated until a successor is duly elected and qualified.

9) A new election to fill the vacated seat will occur no less than 60 days after the recall vote if an official is removed from office by the citizens of West Virginia.

10) The WV Secretary of State will design and implement an online form for submission to begin the recall process of a state or federal official elected by the citizens of West Virginia once the bill is passed. An example of said form at the state level may be found here while changed for federal officials. https://www.sos.la.gov/ElectionsAndVoting/PublishedDocuments/RecallPetitionStatewideOfficialLetterSize.pdf

For too long elected officials have underestimated their constituents. A bill allowing the recall of state and federally elected officials returns the power back to the people.