Early voting underway for W.Va. Primary Election

Josephine Moore, The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.Va.
·2 min read

May 2—Nearly 400 Raleigh County voters have taken advantage of early voting for West Virginia's Primary Election.

On Wednesday, the first day of early voting, Tammy Richardson, the chief elections officer for the Raleigh County Clerk's Office, said they had 218 people turn out to early voting at the Raleigh County Courthouse.

Richardson said the turnout on Thursday was lower than on the first day of early voting, though she was hopeful it would match that number.

"Hopefully, by the weekend, it will pick up," she said.

Numbers aside, Richardson said everything was running smoothly, especially with the new voting machines purchased before the 2023 primary election.

"We love our new equipment," she said. "Makes life so much easier."

The new voting machines are all touchscreen and print out voters' selections when they've completed the ballot.

That printout is then fed into a tabulation machine, which keeps track of and secures all the ballots.

Thus far, Richardson said the most considerable confusion she's seen among voters is being unaware of which district they're voting in and which candidates correlate with that district.

She suggested that anyone with questions stop by the voter registration office on the courthouse's first floor to pick up a sample ballot.

Sample ballots can also be found in the Wednesday, April 24, edition of The Register-Herald.

In-person early voting for West Virginia's 2024 Primary Election will continue through Saturday, May 11, on weekdays and on Saturdays.

The second floor of the Raleigh County Courthouse is the sole early voting location in Raleigh County.

It will be open to voters 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

All counties offer early voting at the county courthouse or courthouse annex, and several counties have additional community voting locations that are easily accessible to voters.

Early voting is open at county courthouses and courthouse annexes during their regular business hours on weekdays, and on Saturdays from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Days and hours for community early voting locations will vary by county.

For more information about West Virginia's election, go to GoVoteWV.com.

Email: jmoore@register-herald.com