Applications For May’s Primary Election Are Still Coming In

Secretary of State Kris Warner is waiting patiently for all applications mailed in for West Virginia’s upcoming Primary Election to reach his office.

The deadline was Saturday, Jan. 31. Normally, three days would be plenty of time. But with this weekend’s winter weather, even the U.S. Postal Service needs a little more time. 

The postal service also recently changed internal policies that result in some postmarks applied at processing facilities no longer matching the date on which a package was mailed.

“I’ve seen the Northern Panhandle, a candidate for the House of Delegates, another candidate for one of the state executive committees, took a picture of their forms, took a picture of their hand-marked hand- canceled postmark that they dropped in the mail on Saturday, and we still haven’t received that,” Warner said.  

Manual postmarking, commonly referred to as hand-canceling, is a process by which a postal employee marks a mail item by hand instead of using automated sorting machinery. This ensures the postage stamp is canceled so it cannot be used again and provides an official record of the date and location of the mail.

“The post office has told us they’re just not moving quite as fast, and they’re not even postmarking letters on the same day they’re dropped in the mail. That’s why we recommended this year for people to have their postmark hand-cancelled if they were filing on that last day,” he said.

So far, 2,047 candidates are officially registered for county and municipal positions, and 614 candidates have filed to run for state offices.

There are fewer Democrats but the overall numbers are comparable to 2022, the most recent non-presidential election year.

• 1,349 Republicans
•   729 Democrats
•  582 Non-Partisan
• 1 Mountain Party

2,661 Total Candidates So Far

“I think a competition of ideas is the best thing for West Virginia, and I welcome them whether they’re unaffiliated or whether they’re Democrat or Republican. We’re just excited that there’s a lot of interest in the election overall this year,” Warner said.

The WV Secretary of State’s Office and the county clerks will be reviewing every candidate’s Certificate of Announcement for accuracy.

Candidates now have until Feb. 17 to voluntarily withdraw.  The primary election is set for May 12. 

For information on West Virginia elections, voter registration, and absentee voting visit GoVoteWV.com.