Warner expresses frustration over Morrisey's veto of election transparency regulation

Democracy dies in darkness. Elections are influenced by money. When those two altruisms converge, we’re left with a society that is subject to the desires of the wealthy elite who know how to “play the political influence game.”

On April 1st, Governor Patrick Morrisey, my colleague on the Board of Public Works, vetoed a rules-bundle bill containing dozens of agencies’ rules that have been published for public review and comment for at least 8 months. Included in that rules bundle were updates to long-standing, common-sense campaign finance rules that aim to increase transparency in political campaign finances.

Like many under the dome, I was shocked. Not only is it questionable whether a Governor can “veto” a Legislative Rule, this was the first time anyone raised concerns with this Rule’s language in the last 8 months.

Governor Morrisey’s reason for vetoing Senate Bill 369 was due to easily remedied technicalities in 2 other rules, and then most pointedly because of a State Election Commission rule and “its imprecise and unwieldy regulation of political action committees [that] will likely cause confusion for those attempting to have their voices heard in our political process.”

Who, I wonder, is “attempting to have their voices heard in our political process” that cannot under our existing or proposed rules? Federal and state laws provide broad protections and rights for citizens to voice their opinions. The government’s interest in regulating that speech has been extensively litigated.

To avoid losing the dozens of other agency rules contained in the bundle, my staff upended their day along with senior counsel and staff of the House and Senate, as well as the Governor’s attorney, and amended the language to ensure the transparency and clarity provisions remained. I am grateful to the Legislature for its staffs' professionalism and efficiency in getting this common-sense bundle back on track.

So the new language has not been seen by the public, has not gone through the arduous and transparent public comment and legislative rulemaking and review process, and there was no time to conduct the type of necessary legal research and constitutional checks on the new regulations. This is not how rules should be passed. The public deserves better than a last-minute change in, of all things, campaign finance regulations.

I’m confident that the revised language is palatable—it merely provides guidance for existing law. But what if it were something else such as a topic that impacts the daily lives of citizens, the public health, our schools?

Had we been approached, we would have explained the well-researched updates and offered to clarify any ambiguous provisions. But that’s not what happened.

Instead, with the swipe of a pen, the Governor dismissed a rules-bundle, of which only the Joint Committee on Rules likely has the power to disapprove, that consists of conservative ideals that allow persons and organizations to engage in West Virginia politics in a transparent and fair manner so that the public clearly knows who is spending money in our elections.

So while we were able to get the rule back on track, I’m frustrated with how we got here. I’m frustrated with how many legislators, staff, and attorneys had their days hijacked because of this easily avoidable situation. Election-related regulations are directly within my jurisdiction according to the State Constitution and West Virginia Code as the State’s Chief Election Officer. Campaign finance regulations fall to the State Election Commission, of which I am a member by law. In the future, I’m hopeful that concerns with election regulations are raised before the timeclock runs out, and so the public has ample opportunity to participate.

Kris Warner
WV Secretary of State

In November of 2024, Kanawha County resident and entrepreneur Kris Warner was elected to serve as West Virginia’s 31st Secretary of State. Prior to his election, he served as the Executive Director of the WV Economic Development Authority.