Included on the ballot for the election for township officers in West Virginia was the proposed state constitutional amendment that banned from citizenship any resident of the state who had willingly supported the Confederate cause after June 1861. West Virginia Republicans justified this measure, saying "We look only to the adoption of such a policy as will secure to us the legitimate results of the dearly-bought victory by which at the last loyalty triumphed over treason on the field of battle." The amendment was adopted and resulted in significant voter suppression, especially in the southern sections of the state, and sealed a sweeping victory for Republicans in the October elections. (By John Osborne)
"West Virginia," The American Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1866 (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1873), 766-767.