MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA – Today, as Secretary of State Mac Warner testifies before the United States Senate on the For The People Act (S.1), students and young people across West Virginia are mobilizing to ensure that this powerful voting rights and campaign finance reform bill passes.

“Mac Warner does not represent young West Virginians. Our generation is tired of politicians spreading misinformation and making it harder for us to vote” said Lake Young, Princeton Senior High School student and Un-PAC organizer. “We must pass the For The People Act and make sure that our government works for everyone in West Virginia, not just corporations and elites like Mac.”

Mac Warner has claimed that the For The People Act would enable mass voter fraud in West Virginia such as was seen in the 2020 election, despite evidence of said fraud never having been proven. In fact, Mac Warner has introduced many of the popular reforms within the For The People Act in West Virginia already, including allowing early voting, voting by mail, and campaign finance reforms that would stem the flow of dark money.

“Warner’s word should never be trusted, whether it be as a Morgantown slumlord or as a WV Secretary of State” said David Crawley, Marshall University grad student and Un-PAC organizer. “He sees universal voting rights as a bad thing because it would allow for people he doesn’t like to vote. Thankfully, he’s not the decision-maker on S.1. Young people across the state are asking Senator Joe Manchin to stand with us and pass this bill.”

A strong majority of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, Independents, and Democrats, support the For the People Act. This reinforces the claim that Mac Warner is motivated by a personal and party agenda in his dislike of the legislation, rather than by serving West Virginians or representing their interests.

“Mac Warner should stop bragging about voter turnout in West Virginia. 63% is not good enough; that still leaves out almost 500,000 West Virginians. Guess who those people are? Working people, young people, and people of color,” said Caitlin Fulp, West Virginia University student and Un-PAC organizer. “We’re not doing a good enough job on our own. West Virginians want and need S. 1 to pass.”

Un-PAC and Our Future West Virginia are two prominent West Virginia groups ensuring that at this pivotal moment, students and young people are advocating for the passage of the For The People Act. These two groups believe that fixing our broken democracy is the only way that Congress will become incentivized to address urgent problems that West Virginians face, such as the opioid crisis, crippling student debt, and climate change.

Un-PAC and Our Future West Virginia have a presence at West Virginia University, Marshall University, West Virginia State University, Concord University, West Virginia Wesleyan College, and in high schools across the state. These two groups are working together to employ dozens of student and youth organizers who are leading the effort to pass the For The People Act on their campuses and in their communities.

Un-PAC is a statewide organization activating students and young people to demand long overdue structural democracy reform so that we can actually solve urgent problems. Additional information can be found at www.un-pac.org, or on Twitter at @LetsUnPAC. Our Future West Virginia is a statewide organization that envisions a West Virginia where every child, youth and adult has the justice, dignity and equity needed to thrive. Additional information can be found at www.ourfuturewv.org, or on Twitter at @ourfuturewv.