The statute, however, deals with both nomination and election. In 1934, in Fansler v. Rightmire, 115 W. Va. 492, 177 S.E. 288, in construing the constitutional provision that no two commissioners shall be elected from the same magisterial district, the Court held that the word "election" had reference to general elections, not to primary elections. In that opinion the Court stated: "It is apparent that the word `election' as used in the constitutional provision, supra, was intended to refer to the final choice of the entire electorate.
The final major issue raised in these mandamus actions is whether the respondent candidates will have been residents of the senatorial district and the county they respectively seek to represent "for one year next preceding" their election under West Virginia Constitution art. VI, § 12. In construing West Virginia Constitution art. VIII, § 23, now West Virginia Constitution art. IX, § 10, governing the election of county commissioners, this Court held in the single Syllabus Point of Fansler v. Rightmire, 115 W. Va. 492, 177 S.E. 288 (1934): "The word `election,' as used in section 23, article 8, Constitution of West Virginia, has reference to general elections — the final choice of the entire electorate — and not to the selection of candidates in a primary." As noted by the Court in Fansler, 115 W. Va. at 494, 177 S.E. at 289, "Candidates at the time of the adoption of our present Constitution were chosen by party conventions.