Trending
CHARLESTON -- As West Virginians across the state head to their polling locations this morning to cast a Republican, Democratic or nonpartisan ballot, one-fourth of voters have voted by absentee ballot while early voting numbers were down.
The polls across all 55 counties opened at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. tonight. Voters should expect lines due to social distancing guidelines and are encouraged to wear masks and bring a pen to make choices on the touchscreen voting machines.
County clerks have stocked up on hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies to wipe down voting machines between uses at precincts. State election officials stress that patience is needed, as some counties might be short of poll workers and some polling locations might need to be consolidated. Voters can visit GoVoteWV.com to find their polling locations.
Early voting started May 27 and ended June 6. According to unofficial numbers from the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office, 42,400 people took part in early voting this year.
That's a 39 percent decrease from the 2018 midterm primary and 57 percent decrease from the 2016 presidential primary.
Election officials attribute the drop in early voting to the massive increase in absentee voting this year due to the coronavirus. According to the Secretary of State's Office 21 percent of the state's 1.23 million registered voters had requested an absentee ballot as of June 8. The deadline to request an absentee ballot was June 3.
Of the number of absentee ballot requests, 200,966 voters have already mailed in their absentee ballots to county clerks, with 23 percent of requested absentee ballot that at this point must be hand-delivered to their local county clerk. County clerks have until Wednesday, June 10, to receive absentee ballots without a June 8 postmark.
Secretary of State Mac Warner announced an emergency rule March 18 allowing voters to claim concern about the coronavirus pandemic as a valid medical excuse to request an absentee ballot. On April 1, Gov. Jim Justice signed an executive order moving the May 12 primary election to today.
Still, Warner encourages all who are able and who feel safe to exercise their right to vote in person. A contract mail carrier, Thomas Cooper was charged by federal officials last month after altering five absentee ballot applications for voters in Pendleton County.
"Voting in-person at a polling location supervised by both major parties and managed by experienced poll workers where every voter is guaranteed the right to cast a secret ballot is the gold standard in voting throughout the world," Warner said.
Voters are reminded to bring a form of personal identification to the polls and to watch out for suspicious behavior. Visit GoVoteWV.com to find out more information about today's election.
(Adams can be contacted at sadams@newsandsentinel.com)