The following is part one in a three-part series on the ballot initiative and referendum process and West Virginia’s lack of it.

Last week was not a good week for Republicans in the West Virginia House of Delegates.

Five times they tried to dislodge their bills – some controversial – out of the committees they were stuck in with discharge motions, only to be thrown into another dimension: the House inactive calendar. House Democrats, much like a matador to a charging bull, sidestepped discharge motions for homestead exemption increases, health care freedom, and others.

It might just be postponing the inevitable. Most of the Republicans that were the charging bulls last week were from the Eastern Panhandle, an area that could grow in legislative influence after the 2010 Census numbers come out. Whether one agrees with the proposed bills, there can be no doubt that these GOP Delegates were acting in the interests of their constituents.

Democrat legislators have constituents as well, but with the internal battle between party moderates and liberals, sometimes the acts of the elected don’t always resonate with the electorate, especially on issues such as the environment. If only there was a way to get elected leaders to follow the will of the people?

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