Identification Now Required to Vote at the Polls

On this West Virginia Morning, we hear from a young girl in North Carolina who shares her story of growing up in Appalachia; we hear about the new Voter ID law that went into effect this year; and the Ohio Valley ReSource brings us an update potential tariffs of steel and aluminum manufacturers.

West Virginia’s Voter ID law went into effect at the beginning of this year. This week’s statewide primary election is the first under the bill passed by the legislature during the 2016 legislative session. As voters head to the polls tomorrow, they’ll be asked to provide ID — but, they’ll have a lot of options to prove their identity. Dave Mistich spoke with Max Feldman of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU about West Virginia’s new law, how it compares to similar laws around the country, and why such legislation exists.

With more than 220 steel and aluminum facilities in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia, the Ohio Valley has a lot riding on the Trump administration’s taxes on imported metals. Reporter Becca Schimmel visited Hawesville, Kentucky, where one of the nation’s largest remaining aluminum producers is betting big that the president will follow through with tariffs.

The Ohio Valley ReSource is made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

All this week on West Virginia Morning, we’re hearing personal stories from 6th and 7th grade students in Appalachian North Carolina. These pieces were crafted during a summer program of the Partnership for Appalachian Girls’ Education (PAGE). Youth worked with facilitators to write, edit, and voice “digital stories” about their lives. This morning we’ll hear Skyler Shelton, a 6th grader from Laurel, North Carolina. She lives with her grandmother.

Her story originally aired on WUNC. You can hear the rest of this series on the latest Inside Appalachia podcast.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from West Virginia University, Concord University, and Shepherd University.

Our news director is Jesse Wright. Our producer is Glynis Board.