Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Early voting for the 2022 WV primary election begins today and continues through Saturday, May 7
Early voting for the 2022 West Virginia primary election begins today and continues through Saturday, May 7. All 55 counties in West Virginia offer early voting and if you have never taken advantage of the opportunity, this may be the year to try it out. Early voting is a good way to assure your vote will count if your polling place has changed because of this year’s redistricting, or if you have had other changes, such as a street address or name change. Poll workers can help you update your status during the early voting period, a service which isn’t available on election day.
You may find that you are in a different state senate district, house district, or voting precinct this year. Every 10 years district lines are redrawn based on the results of the United States census. Districts must have close to equal populations and can’t discriminate based on race or ethnicity. Since districts were redrawn to account for population losses and shifts, your polling place may be an entirely different place than it was in the past.
The good news is that early voting not only allows you to avoid the potential waiting in line you might find on election day, but many counties have several convenient early voting polling places.
When you early vote, the procedure is the same as voting on election day. You go to the early voting polling place, tell the poll worker your name, and show valid, non-expired identification. It doesn’t necessarily have to have your picture on it. Many forms of ID are acceptable including your voter registration card, Medicare or Medicaid card, birth certificate, hunting or fishing license, bank card, and of course driver’s license, passport, or military ID. There are also exemptions to the requirement for identification, one of which is that the poll worker has known the voter for at least 6 months.
If you are registered as unaffiliated (an Independant) instead of a member of the Democrat, Libertarian, Mountain, or Republican party, then you must ask for the party’s ballot of your choice. Otherwise, you will be limited to voting for non-partisan issues such as different kinds of bonds or levies, and non-partisan offices like judge and board of education. It is important to remember when you identify yourself as unaffilliated/Independent, you have to say that you want a Democrat, Republican, Mountain, or Libertarian ballot. The poll worker is NOT supposed to say anything to you to help you remember this.
Information on the status of your individual voter’s registration, on the voting districts for the primary election, polling places, early voting locations (and times they are open), sample ballots, voter identification information, and more is available online at GoVoteWV.com or follow this link: https://sos.wv.gov/elections/Pages/GoVoteWV.aspx. If you can’t or don’t want to use the online tools, then you may also call your county clerk to ask for this information.
Monday, April 25, 2022
National Crime Victims' Rights Week
Thursday, April 14, 2022
West Virginia Elections: Primary May 10, 2022, voter registration deadline April 19, 22
We have a primary election coming up Tuesday, May 10, 2022. Since we had a substantial redistricting in our state legislature many registered West Virginia voters may find their state delegate and senate district lines have changed.
The House of Delegates now has only single-member districts, so any district that previously had multiple delegates has been changed so you will only be able to vote for and elect a single delegate this year. You can find out about your new district information using the address tool on the WV Secretary of State's website govotewv.com.
You have only until April 19, 2022 to register to vote in this primary or to change your voter registration for this primary. You can make changes to your voter registration, including your party affiliation, also through that same website govotewv.com.
There are a few ways you can register to vote. 1. You can apply online at that website. You'll need your WV drivers license or state-issued ID number. 2. You can mail in a paper application to your county clerk. You can download the application on that website or contact your county clerk for a copy. 3. You can register in person at a variety of places including your county clerk's office, the DMV, and disability services organizations.
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