Vexit Leaders Announce Next Steps In Movement To Leave Virginia
LYNCHBURG, Va., March 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The leaders of the grassroots movement known as VEXIT today announced the next steps for Virginia counties to abandon the radical policies of Democrat Party leaders in Richmond by joining the free state of West Virginia.
The steps, announced by Rick Boyer, a Rustburg, Virginia attorney and the President of VEXIT, include a new effort to gather signatures on petitions to local governments, the distribution of key new information about the inability of the Virginia government to intercede in the process, and the appointment of Jerry Falwell, Jr., the President of Liberty University, as the Honorary Chairman of VEXIT.
VEXIT plans to increase its outreach to citizens to encourage them to demand a vote in their local county (or independent city) this fall to become a county in West Virginia. More information is found on VEXIT's website, https://vexit2020.com/.
"This movement can't be stopped by Richmond because Virginia's Constitution already gives local communities the right to do this," said Falwell.
"Patriots across Virginia are ready for a change, which is why we are especially pleased to welcome the leadership of Jerry Falwell, Jr. as our new Honorary Chairman," Boyer added.
Falwell, said, "When I first spoke out in favor of VEXIT with W Va. Governor Jim Justice, I thought it was a longshot because I figured the General Assembly and Congress would each have to approve it. But I realized VEXIT was not such a long shot when Rick Boyer, W Va. Delegate Greg Howell and various attorneys from both states briefed us on VEXIT's brilliant legal strategy and determined it was sound. I now see a clear path to success that state and federal politicians can't block and I'm proud to be VEXIT's Honorary Chairman. My family has been in Virginia for generations, and we have never been more concerned about the future of the Commonwealth than we are now with the infringement of our individual liberties under assault by the radical extremists running the government in Richmond."
VEXIT is a movement to secure local votes on the ballot for counties to leave Virginia for West Virginia in response to recent hostility toward the values of most of Virginia expressed through the new governing majority in Richmond.
LEGAL BACKGROUND
Falwell himself was a practicing attorney for 20 years before becoming President of Liberty University. Falwell points to Article 1, Section 3 of the Virginia Constitution, which holds that "whenever any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community hath an indubitable, inalienable, and indefeasible right to reform, alter, or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal."
Furthermore, both Falwell and Boyer say that the framers of Virginia's Constitution ensured future generations of Virginians would have the right to form new governments without the war that was required for Virginia to break from Great Britain. This Constitutional right to alter government is held by smaller units of community, such as counties and independent cities, and includes altering the state with which they are aligned, Falwell noted. And it's a right, he says, that the General Assembly can't take away. Sections of the Virginia code that purport to limit referenda to those prescribed and approved by statute or charter are "unconstitutional if they are attempted to be applied to limit the constitutional right to have referenda on forms of government according to legal experts," Falwell said.
"Neither the Virginia code nor its General Assembly can stop or limit the right of citizens to reform their local government by annexing it to West Virginia by majority vote, nor is the General Assembly's consent necessary, our legal team has concluded," Falwell added.
Boyer and other legal experts say that the last time Virginia counties voted to be part of West Virginia was during the Civil War and that arguably the General Assemblies of both states and Congress consented. He says that Congressional consent isn't needed now because the consent referenced in Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution only comes into play when admitting a new state into the Union.
The 10th Amendment leaves the people and the states alone to determine political alignments of land and people from one state to another, Boyer says, and Virginia's Constitution reserves that right to the people. "The citizens of Virginia's local communities can act under their constitutional rights as Virginians to accept an invitation to be annexed into West Virginia pursuant to the Constitution of West Virginia's enabling act in the form of HCR 8," Boyer concluded.
CONTACT:
Rick Boyer
President, VEXIT
[email protected]
MEDIA CONTACT:
Mark Serrano
[email protected]
SOURCE VEXIT
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