Consent of the governed
To the Editor:
The Weston County Republican Party recently brought public opinion and desires of election process to the Weston County Commissioners. The consensus of the governed was not whimsical or insignificant.
As a representative-type government, precinct committeemen and women are elected to convey issue positions of voters to elected officials. The position is determined by committeemen listening to people in their precinct and by passing resolutions at party county conventions.
A resolution for Weston County to abandon ES&S machines and count elections by hand was passed at the 2024 central committee convention. This was never delivered to the county commissioners. Late 2025 WCRP addressed this failure by forming an election integrity committee tasked with bringing the resolution to the commissioners.
This committee met diligently for four months to collect information and find solutions to present with the resolution. Compelling information and sources demonstrating the risk and cost of ES&S machines was collected. A hand-count demonstration was held to show the community what hand counting would look like and to share findings on the vulnerabilities of ES&S machines. Research discovered the cost of ES&S elections was at least $50,000 per election year. Hand counting would be half that, with most of the money spent staying in Weston County. An unscientific poll of the community and the passing of the same resolution at the 2026 WCRP convention showed public support for abandoning machines.
The resolution along with extensive research and reporting was presented to the commission on April 21st and was voted down 3-2 on May 5th.
Only one commissioner attended the hand-count demonstration. Not one commissioner reached out to the committee for clarification or further questions on the presentation. No alternative solution was offered to remedy the problem that plagued the 2024 General Election.
The commissioners blew off the will of the people of Weston County. They failed to address the very serious problem of voter distrust. They did not bother to engage in any substantive conversation. They did not bother to investigate solutions to neutralize voter distrust. They did not address the most vulnerable fault of hand counting ballots. That being, voter apathy and finding enough judges.
Does consent of the governed exist in Weston County?