The Secretary of State's Office has responded to a federal lawsuit filed by a West Virginia independent expenditure political action committee alleging a policy prohibiting independent expenditures by corporations limits free speech rights.
Stay the Course West Virginia and its chairman David Bailey along with Pineville Lumber Inc. and Kanawha County voter Thomas Stephen Bailey filed the suit May 23 against Secretary of State Natalie Tennant and Mercer County Prosecutor Scott Ash.
Bailey created Stay the Course West Virginia to make independent expenditures supporting the re-election of certain incumbents before the state's November general election, according to the lawsuit.
However, the state's election code prohibits a person from contributing more than $1,000 to candidates running for any public office, the suit says.
In her response filed last month, Tennant denied allegations in the suit and requested the court to uphold the presumption of constitutionality of the acts of the West Virginia Legislature in enacting state code.
The case, which originally was assigned to U.S. District Judge Irene Berger, was reassigned to U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston according to a recent order.
The suit seeks to prohibit enforcement of the statutes and also seeks class certification of all West Virginia prosecuting attorneys, who would be represented by Ash.
In 2010, lawmakers rewrote the law, which plaintiffs say "does not expressly prohibit" corporate contributions to a political action committee for election expenses.
However current code did prohibit solicitation of corporate contributions to "any candidate or candidate's committee." The law kept the penalty of a misdemeanor charge and fine of up to $10,000, the suit states.
The rules also prohibit political action committees from accepting corporate contributions.
Stay the Course argues state code "implies" corporations can make independent expenditures instead of political contributions.
The suit additionally asserts the Secretary of State's policy violates decisions by the nation's highest court declaring corporations cannot be prohibited from making "unlimited independent expenditures that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a political candidate." Stay the Course also argues the election code policy violates rights to free speech.
Pineville Lumber, the suit states, wants to make an independent expenditure of $5,000 to Stay the Course. Bailey also wants to solicit contributions of more than $1,000 from natural persons and corporations.
Thomas Stephen Bailey also wants to contribute more than $1,000 to Stay the Course.
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