---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to voter eligibility and residency requirements"
description: "Relating to voter eligibility and residency requirements"
jurisdiction: "us/states/wv"
legislature: "West Virginia Legislature"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 59"
citation: "West Virginia SB 59 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Elections"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Rucker"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 43
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2026-01-14"
last_action: "2026-06-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7fe3150a-a8db-4e75-b4cf-a09929a7c700"
source_url: "https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/Bills_history.cfm?input=59&year=2026&sessiontype=RS&btype=bill"
source_hash: "dd63f5e69320eff3a41906284f2caa619fda72526bf54e27f30ea7d375e1e3e7"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-wv"]
---

# West Virginia SB 59 (2026) — Relating to voter eligibility and residency requirements

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Committee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb59%20sub1.htm&yr=2026&sesstype=RS&i=59)
2. **Enrolled Committee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb59%20sub1%20enr.htm&yr=2026&sesstype=RS&i=59)
3. **Introduced Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb59%20intr.htm&yr=2026&sesstype=RS&i=59)
4. **sb59 hjud am. _1 3-9 adopted.htm** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/legisdocs/chamber/2026/RS/com_amends/sb59%20hjud%20am.%20_1%203-9%20adopted.htm)

## Votes

- Passage — **33–0** (pass) · upper
- EFFECT Jan 01, 2027 — **95–1** (pass) · lower
- PASSAGE — **92–4** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Rucker — primary (person)
- Rose — cosponsor (person)
- Thorne — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-01-14** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2026-01-14** To Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-14** Introduced in Senate `introduction`
- **2026-01-14** To Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-19** Committee substitute reported
- **2026-02-20** On 1st reading
- **2026-02-20** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-21** On 2nd reading
- **2026-02-21** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-23** On 3rd reading
- **2026-02-23** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2026-02-23** Passed Senate (Roll No. 195) `passage`
- **2026-02-23** Effective January 1, 2027 (Roll No. 196)
- **2026-02-23** Ordered to House
- **2026-02-23** House received Senate message
- **2026-02-23** Introduced in House `introduction`
- **2026-02-23** To Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-23** To House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-09** Markup Discussion
- **2026-03-10** With amendment, do pass `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-10** Immediate consideration
- **2026-03-10** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2026-03-11** On 2nd reading, Special Calendar
- **2026-03-12** On 3rd reading with right to amend, Special Calendar
- **2026-03-12** Reported by the Clerk
- **2026-03-12** Amendment reported by the Clerk
- **2026-03-12** Amendment rejected (Voice vote) `amendment-failure`
- **2026-03-12** Committee amendment adopted (Voice vote)
- **2026-03-12** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-12** Passed House (Roll No. 413) `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Effective January 1, 2027 (Roll No. 414)
- **2026-03-12** Communicated to Senate
- **2026-03-13** House Message received
- **2026-03-13** Senate concurred in House amendments and passed bill (Roll No. 593)
- **2026-03-13** Effective January 1, 2027 (Roll No. 594)
- **2026-03-13** Communicated to House
- **2026-03-13** Completed legislative action
- **2026-03-18** To Governor 3/18/2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-14** To Governor 3/18/2026 - Senate Journal `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-01** Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 `executive-signature`
- **2026-03-14** Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 - Senate Journal `executive-signature`
- **2026-03-14** Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 - House Journal `executive-signature`
- **2026-06-25** Chapter 130, Acts, Regular Session, 2026 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7fe3150a-a8db-4e75-b4cf-a09929a7c700`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official West Virginia legislature records).