District Organization
The House is composed of 100 members elected for two year terms.
Prior to the 1970 Census, districts always respected county lines, with districts always consisting of either a single entire county, or several entire counties. Beginning with that year, the state began to use smaller geographic areas.
The 2000 House of Delegates' districting system divided the state into 58 districts that elect a varying number of members. The majority of districts, 35, were single-member districts. 23 districts are multi-member constituencies, varying from two to seven (the 30th District in Kanawha County) delegates, which was the largest multi-member lower house district in the nation.
In response to the 2010 Census, the Legislature again was required to redistrict. The Republican Party, and groups from the growing eastern panhandle and Putnam County were among those calling for 100 single member districts. Eventually redistricting was adopted by House Bill 201, which divided the state into 61 districts, of which 47 are one member districts, 11 two member districts, 6 three member districts, 2 four member districts, and one five member district. One of the four member districts, which contains three counties, requires that all four delegates not be from the same county, promoting the highest finisher from another county over the 4th place candidate. The old 30th District was abolished, however the five member district, covering most of Monongalia County, remains among the ten largest multi-member lower house districts in the country. These changes will take effect in with the 2012 election cycle. The state Supreme Court rejected legal challenges and no federal challenge was filed.
Read more about this topic: West Virginia House Of Delegates
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