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It will all be over come Tuesday night.
This isn’t meant to sound morbid, but it’s the reality. The election of 2026 will come to an end sometime Tuesday night, bringing to a close months of campaigns, advertisements, public appearances, a mixture of truth and lies plus everything else candidates do.
Saturday is the end of West Virginia’s early voting period. If you haven’t done so and don’t want to take the chance of not being able to make it to your polling place Tuesday, you might want to visit your county courthouse before 5 p.m. to make use of the opportunity.
Otherwise, polls open at 6:30 a.m., Tuesday, and close at 7:30 p.m. Then, it’s a matter of the precinct captains getting the equipment to the respective county clerks and going through those final tabulations.
Our local county clerks and their staffs have become quite efficient in their elections procedures, with results typically finished by 9:30 p.m. The West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office also has upgraded its game over the years and we can now watch results come in from across the state through its website.
Most local races will probably be counted up and announced relatively early. There are only a few, to be fair
Hopefully, you’ve been keeping up on our election previews this week, but here’s a quick rundown:
Hancock County Commission has a faceoff between newcomer Brianne Bates and former Weirton councilman/Delegate Ronnie Jones to represent the Butler District. This is the seat currently held by Eron Chek, who lost to Jones in May’s Republican primary.
In the House of Delegates, we have three contested races. Incumbent Republican Pat McGeehan is being challenged by Democrat Quincy Wilson for the First District; Jimmy Willis, the Republican incumbent for District 3, faces challenges from Democrat Mike Robinson and independent Dave Cantrell; and in District 2, Republican Tony Viola is challenged by Democrat Daniel Day. Viola defeated incumbent Mark Zatezalo in May’s primary.
On the other side of the Capitol, we have a contest for one of our two West Virginia Senate seats, with Republican incumbent Laura Wakim Chapman challenged by Democrat and current District 5 House member Shawn Fluharty.
This is the only race that concerns me as far as the timing of getting results as it covers all of Hancock, Brooke and Ohio counties along with about half of Marshall County. The last several years there have been a couple of the more southern precincts taking longer to get their results in, so final numbers might not be official until later in the night.
All other local races - two seats on the Brooke County Commission and the election for the Hancock County Circuit Court Clerk - are uncontested, with only one candidate registered in each. They’re still on the ballot, but since they are the only individuals seeking those specific offices, we didn’t do any articles on their campaigns.
Elections are an important function of our nation. They are how we, the people, let our elected officials know if we approve of their performance. By voting, we are expressing our thoughts on the function - or dysfunction - of our government and the people representing us.
Everyone eligible should take part in the process.
The process is long (and seemingly getting longer) with the aforementioned campaigns often beginning years before the votes are cast and it often wears on us, the voters.
Yes, after Tuesday, it will all be over. Wednesday morning, I’ll wake up, take a deep breath and cautiously await the beginning of the campaign for the 2028 election sometime before Christmas.
(Howell, a resident of Colliers, is part of the news staff of The Weirton Daily Times. He can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com or followed on Twitter/X @CHowellWDT)