Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 11A > Article 3 > Part III

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• all elections: shall include every general, primary, or special election held in this state, or in any of its subdivisions, for the purpose of nominating or electing federal or state officers, or county, city, town or village officers of any subdivision now existing or hereafter created, or for the purpose of electing members of a Constitutional convention, or for voting upon any public question submitted to the people of the state or any of the aforesaid subdivisions. See West Virginia Code 3-1-2
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Auditor: whenever used in this chapter in connection with delinquent, nonentered, escheated or waste and unappropriated lands, shall be construed to refer to the Auditor in his capacity as state commissioner of delinquent and nonentered lands. See West Virginia Code 11A-3-33
• Ballot issue: means a constitutional amendment, special levy, bond issue, local option referendum, municipal charter or revision, an increase or decrease of corporate limits, or any other question that is placed before the voters for a binding decision. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Billboard advertisement: means a commercially available outdoor advertisement, sign, or similar display regularly available for lease or rental to advertise a person, place, or product. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Candidate: means an individual who:

  (A) Has filed a certificate of announcement under §. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a

• Caucus: From the Algonquian Indian language, a caucus meant "to meet together." An informal organization of members of the legislature that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members. There are regional, political or ideological, ethnic, and economic-based caucuses.
• Caucus campaign committee: means a West Virginia House of Delegates or Senate political party caucus campaign committee that receives contributions and makes expenditures to support or oppose one or more specific candidates or slates of candidates for nomination, election, or committee membership. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Clearly identified: means that the name, nickname, photograph, drawing, or other depiction of the candidate appears, or the identity of the candidate is otherwise apparent through an unambiguous reference, such as "the Governor" "your Senator" or "the incumbent" or through an unambiguous reference to his or her status as a candidate, such as "the Democratic candidate for Governor" or "the Republican candidate for Supreme Court of Appeals". See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Committee membership: Legislators are assigned to specific committees by their party. Seniority, regional balance, and political philosophy are the most prominent factors in the committee assignment process.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contribution: means a gift, subscription, loan, assessment, payment for services, dues, advance, donation, pledge, contract, agreement, forbearance, promise of money, or other tangible thing of value, whether conditional or legally enforceable, or a transfer of money or other tangible thing of value to a person, made for the purpose of influencing the nomination, election, or defeat of a candidate. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Coordinated expenditure: is a n expenditure made in concert with, in cooperation with, or at the request or suggestion of a candidate or candidate's committee and meeting the criteria provided in §. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Corporate political action committee: means a political action committee that is a separate segregated fund of a corporation that may only accept contributions from its restricted group as outlined by the rules of the State Election Commission. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• County court: includes any existing tribunal created in lieu of a county commission. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Disclosure date: means either of the following:

  (A) The first date during any calendar year on which any electioneering communication is disseminated after the person paying for the communication has spent a total of $5,000 or more for the direct costs of purchasing, producing, or disseminating electioneering communications. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a

• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Election: means any primary, general, or special election conducted under the provisions of this code or under the charter of any municipality at which the voters nominate or elect candidates for public office. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Election: shall mean the procedure whereby the voters of this state or any subdivision thereof elect persons to fill public offices, or elect members of a Constitutional convention, or vote on public questions. See West Virginia Code 3-1-2
• Electioneering communication: means any paid communication made by broadcast, cable or satellite signal, mass mailing, telephone bank, billboard advertisement, or publication in any newspaper, magazine, or other periodical that:

  (i) Refers to a clearly identified candidate for Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, Auditor, Commissioner of Agriculture, Supreme Court of Appeals, or the Legislature. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a

• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Expressly advocating: means any communication that:

  (A) Uses phrases such as "vote for the Governor" "re-elect your Senator" "support the incumbent nominee for Supreme Court" "cast your ballot for the Republican challenger for House of Delegates" "Smith for House" "Bob Smith in '04" "vote Pro-Life" or "vote Pro-Choice" accompanied by a listing of clearly identified candidates described as Pro-Life or Pro-Choice, "vote against Old Hickory" "defeat" accompanied by a picture of one or more candidates, "reject the incumbent". See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a

• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Forbearance: A means of handling a delinquent loan. A
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• In concert or cooperation with or at the request or suggestion of: means that a candidate or his or her agent consulted with:

  (A) The sender regarding the content, timing, place, nature, or volume of a particular communication or communication to be made. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a

• in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Independent expenditure: means an expenditure by a person:

  (A) Expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, including supporting or opposing the candidates of a political party. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a

• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• Joint session: When both chambers of a legislature adopt a concurrent resolution to meet together.
• Judgment: includes decrees and orders for the payment of money, or the conveyance or delivery of land or personal property, or some interest therein, or any undertaking, bond or recognizance which has the legal effect of a judgment. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Local: refers to the election of candidates to a city, county, or municipal office and any issue to be voted on by only the residents of a particular political subdivision. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Mass mailing: means a mailing by United States mail, facsimile, or electronic mail of more than 500 pieces of mail matter of an identical or substantially similar nature within any 30-day period. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Membership organization: means a group that grants bona fide rights and privileges, such as the right to vote, to elect officers or directors, and the ability to hold office to its members and which uses a majority of its membership dues for purposes other than political purposes. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Membership organization political action committee: means a labor organization or a trade association, cooperative, or other incorporated membership organization that: Is composed of members. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Name: means the full first name, middle name, or initial, if any, and full legal last name of an individual and the full name of any association, corporation, committee, or other organization of individuals, making the identity of any person who makes a contribution apparent by unambiguous reference. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Office: shall be construed to mean "public office" which shall include (1) any elective office provided for by the Constitution or laws of the United States or of this state to which a salary or other compensation attaches, and (2) membership in a Constitutional convention. See West Virginia Code 3-1-2
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, committee, association, and any other organization or group of individuals. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Political action committee: means a committee organized by one or more persons, the primary purpose of which is to support or oppose the nomination or election of one or more candidates. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Political committee: means any candidate committee, political action committee, or political party committee. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Political party: means a political party as that term is defined by §. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Political party committee: means a committee established by a political party or political party caucus for the purposes of engaging in the influencing of the election, nomination, or defeat of a candidate in any election. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Political purposes: means supporting or opposing the nomination, election, or defeat of one or more candidates or the passage or defeat of a ballot issue, supporting the retirement of the debt of a candidate or political committee or the administration or activities of an established political party or an organization which has declared itself a political party, and determining the advisability of becoming a candidate under the pre-candidacy financing provisions of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments, all rights thereto and interests therein, except chattel interests. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• substantially similar: includes communications that contain substantially the same template or language, but vary in nonmaterial respects such as communications customized by the recipient's name, occupation, or geographic location. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Targeted to the relevant electorate: means a communication which refers to a clearly identified candidate for statewide office or the Legislature and which can be received by 140,000 or more individuals in the state in the case of a candidacy for statewide office, 8,220 or more individuals in the district in the case of a candidacy for the State Senate, and 2,410 or more individuals in the district in the case of a candidacy for the House of Delegates. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Telephone bank: means telephone calls that are targeted to the relevant electorate, other than telephone calls made by volunteer workers, regardless of whether paid professionals designed the telephone bank system, developed calling instructions, or trained volunteers. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Unaffiliated political action committee: means a political action committee that is not affiliated with a corporation or a membership organization. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
• Voter: shall mean any person who possesses the statutory and Constitutional qualifications for voting. See West Virginia Code 3-1-2
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.