There were no surprises today as five West Virginia electors cast the state’s official votes for the next president and vice president of the United States.
Secretary of State Natalie Tennant read the five official electoral college votes cast at the Capitol Monday by the state’s members of the electoral college during a ceremony in the House of Delegates chamber.
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Secretary of State Natalie Tennant places an official seal on the electoral ballots.
Former Senate President Bill Cole was one of those five electors, all of whom voted for Trump and Pence.
Others were Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, Secretary of State-elect Mac Warner, candidate for Treasurer Ann Urling and Ron Foster, whose wife and son are members of the House of Delegates.
Across the country, electors have been pressured to change their votes to prevent a Trump presidency. Cole said he received thousands of letters calling on him to change his vote.
“The ones that I opened were the ones that were addressed from West Virginia and out of 2-3,000 letters I probably got 10,” Cole said. “Most of them came from California, New York, Florida.”
Other electors also commented that they had received letters and phone calls asking them to change their votes.
A handful of protestors attended the electoral vote in Charleston Monday, holding signs and wearing t-shirts showing their distaste with President-elect Trump.
A Republican state Senate candidate has called for a recount after losing to a Democratic incumbent by 100 votes.
WDTV-TV reports Republican Frank Cornette II lost to Democrat Sen. Doug Facemire by just 100 votes out of more than 42,300 ballots that were cast.
Harrison County Clerk Susan Thomas said this will be the first recount during her 12 years in office. She said Cornette will cover the costs, which include the salary of poll workers.
Cornette told the station he requested the recount to make sure all votes were correctly counted so that the “proper person is sent to Charleston next year to represent the citizens.”
Unofficial numbers from the secretary of state’s office show voter turnout in West Virginia was higher than the previous general election but didn’t eclipse the 2008 race.
Figures released Wednesday show 728,248 voters, or 57.2 percent, participated in Tuesday’s election. That’s up from about 55 percent in the 2012 general election and down from about 60.8 percent in 2008.
The secretary of state’s office says the figures will become official after canvassing is complete.
Lewis County had the highest turnout rate at just under 69 percent, followed by Preston County at 68.7 percent and Hardy County at 66.2 percent.
McDowell County had the lowest turnout at 36 percent.
In West Virginia, a Democrat will remain in the governor’s mansion and Republicans will keep control of both the state Senate and House of Delegates. Mostly told, it was an election that represented the status quo in state politics aside from a few exceptions.
Here are a few highlights:
Billionaire businessman and Democrat Jim Justice won over Republican Bill Cole in the race for governor.
Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey won re-election.
A few upsets were had in the state Senate.
West Virginia was called for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who won the state handedly as forecasted by state and national polls. Stay locked on to NPR’s Election 2016 Blog for more as the presidential race still remains up in the air.
Update: November 8, 2016 at 10:30 p.m.
Republicans in the West Virginia Senate appear to be picking up a few more seats (adding to their current 18-16 majority), despite Democrat Glenn Jeffries defeating Republican incumbent Chris Walters in the 8th District.
Other upsets in the state Senate include:
Republican Ryan Weld over Democrat incumbent Jack Yost in the 1st District.
Democrat Denise Campbell defeating Republican Greg Boso in the 11th District.
The state Senate race between Republican incumbent Mitch Carmichael and Democrat Brian Prim remains too close to call.
In the race for auditor, Republican John McCuskey has landed a victory over Democrat Mary Ann Claytor and Liberterian Brenton Ricketts.
Update: November 8, 2016 at 10:10 p.m.
In the race for attorney general, Democrat Doug Reynolds has conceded the race to Republican incumbent Patrick Morrisey.
“We ran a great race, despite being outspent 2:1 by out-of-state special interests,” said Reynolds in a news release issued late Tuesday. “I enjoyed traveling around the state meeting people, and I thank them for opening their hearts and homes to me over the past year. I have been honored to serve the people of my district and the state through my work in the West Virginia legislature, and I don’t intend to stop that service as a private citizen.”
Update: November 8, 2016 at 9:56 p.m.
In West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District, Evan Jenkins has won re-election over Democrat Mat Detch and Liberterian Zane Lawhorn.
Many races in the state Senate and House of Delegates have been decided, while others remain too close to call as of now–such as the state Senate race between Republican incumbent Mitch Carmichael and Democrat Brian Prim. Follow along with our interactive maps and live results.
At this time, the race for president remains up in the air, as many key states like Florida remain uncalled and Republican Donald Trumps leads with 129 electoral votes over Democrat Hillary Clinton’s 97 electoral votes.
Democrat Mark Hunt currently has a slight lead over Republican incumbent Alex Mooney in the 2nd District. In the state’s 3rd District, Republican incumbent Evan Jenkins leads by a wide margin in his race over his two opponents.
Update: November 8, 2016 at 8:11 p.m.
Results for state races in West Virginia are beginning to come in after polls closed at 7:30 p.m., with Democrat Jim Justice out to an early lead over Republican Bill Cole and three third-party candidates in the governor’s race.
Just after polls closed in West Virginia at 7:30 p.m., Donald Trump has been projected as the winner–taking the state’s five electoral votes. At the time of publishing, the Republican candidate leads Democrat Hillary Clinton 24 to 3.
270 electoral votes are needed for a candidate to win the presidency.
There’s just one hour left until polls close in West Virginia and results begin to be counted. Remember, though, if you’re still in line at 7:30, don’t leave. Your vote still counts.
At the top of the ticket, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is favored over Democrat Hillary Clinton. Billionaire businessman Jim Justice is favored in the governor’s race over Republican Senate President Bill Cole.
The state’s five constitutional officers, including attorney general, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer and agriculture commissioner, are also on the ballot. The attorney general’s race between Republican incumbent Patrick Morrisey and Doug Reynolds will be closely watched.
Credit Roxy Todd / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
“All votes matter, and you should go out and vote. Martin Luther King fought for this,” said Kimberly Jackson, who lives in the Carrol Terrace Apartments on Charleston’s East End.
Update: November 8, 2016 at 3:23 p.m.
In Monongalia County, voters are seeing shorter lines at the polls – thanks to the county’s high early voter turnout rate and a shorter ballot.
County Clerk Carye Blaney said that a shorter general election ballot, compared to the 2016 primary ballot, made all the difference.
“Some of the contests, had 200 plus candidates. They were all very lengthy, and took the voter a much more significant amount of time to mark their ballot,” Blaney told West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Anne Li.
Blaney also said Monongalia County’s high early voting turnout rate also contributed to shorter lines this election. West Virginia broke statewide early voting records this year, despite the fact the early voting period was shortened from 20 days to 10 days in 2010. Monongalia County had the highest early voting rate at 30 percent in the 2016 general election.
Update: November 8, 2016 at 2:10 p.m.
The West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office says so far, voting has been smooth across the state today with only a few counties reporting some minor problems.
Secretary of State Natalie Tennant says 24 liaisons from the office are positioned across the state to deal with those complaints as they come in and have dealt with issues like repositioning electronic voting machines in precincts or posting notices outside buildings of precinct location changes.
The secretary of state’s office says on average voters are waiting about 15 or 20 minutes in voting lines. Polls remain open until 7:30 tonight.
“I was and am asking voters for their patience, for their respect and their understanding to the polls workers and what they’re doing,” Tennant told West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Ashton Marra.
Credit Glynis Board / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Election officials in West Virginia say voting has gone smoothly since polls opened this morning, as voters cast ballots for president, the governor’s race and other statewide offices.
Secretary of State spokeswoman Briana Wilson says there have been only minor issues reported at a few locations. She did not have any firm reports of turnout as of mid-morning.
The governor’s race pits billionaire Democrat Jim Justice against Republican state Senate President Bill Cole. Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has reached his two-consecutive-term limit.
National and state polls show West Virginia voters overwhelmingly support Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential race.
One voter in Charleston this morning was 27-year-old Kat Biller, who decided on Clinton.
“I felt my duty was to vote. Even though they say West Virginia is a Trump State, and they say oh there’s no way. It felt good to vote,” said Biller.
Biller is a first time voter. She works at a Charleston bookstore and has a 4-month-old baby.
Update: November 8, 2016 at 8:50 a.m.
With polls opening at 6:30 a.m., West Virginians across the state are casting ballots for president, congress, as well as state and local officials. Turnout is expected to be high, with Secretary of State Natalie Tennant announcing Monday that early voting broke records for the 2016 election cycle.
Be sure to keep checking this post for more updates from across the state and to see live results at 7:30 p.m. as polls close and votes being to be counted. You can find additional coverage of Election 2016, including candidate profiles, archived episodes of Viewpoint with Ashton Marra and more here.
Credit Chad Matlick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Voters head to the polls early at Morgantown High School on Tuesday, November 8.
Television coverage from the PBS NewsHour begins at 7 p.m. and West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Ashton Marra will provide live and local updates throughout the evening at the top of the hour.
NPR hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Rachel Martin, and Ari Shapiro will co-host our special coverage from NPR headquarters in Washington, DC, starting at 8:00 p.m. WVPB’s Beth Vorhees will provide live updates and results from the West Virginia elections throughout the night.
Early voting in West Virginia has broken records in the 2016 election cycle with numbers surpassing historical data for both the primary and general elections in years past.
According to data provided by the Secretary of State’s office, 220,275 voters cast early ballots in the 2016 general election. The early voting period ended Saturday, Nov. 5.
During the 2012 general election, there were 150,666 early voters. In 2008, there 153,096 West Virginians cast early ballots.
This year’s primary election in May also yielded record breaking numbers, with 100,926 ballots cast early. In 2012’s primary that number was 46,833 early votes. The 2008 primary, 57,553 West Virginians voted early.
Early voting in West Virginia began in the 2002 election cycle. This year’s 10-day early voting period broke records despite being reduced from a 20-day period in the 2010 election cycle.
“As we near the end of this election cycle, it is clear that West Virginians are excited about voting,” Secretary of State Natalie Tennant said in a Monday news release.
“Early voting is convenient and gives voters with busy schedules more opportunities to cast a ballot. I am pleased to see such record-breaking turnout, and hope West Virginians continue that momentum by getting out and setting even more voter turnout records on Election Day.”
In a breakdown of early votes cast by registrants for each party, the Secretary of State’s Office reports 98,547 Democrats, 81,263 Republicans, 613 Libertarians, 184 Mountain Party members and 33,173 ballots by voters with no party affiliation were cast during the early voting period.
The county’s with the highest percentage of registered voters casting early ballots are:
The West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office is preparing for any potential voting issues that may arise on Election Day while tallying one of the highest early voting turnouts on record.
The Secretary of State’s Office says more than 140,000 people have cast ballots early this year. The early voting period began on October 26 and runs through Saturday, November 5.
State voting officials said Thursday that number is on track to exceed early voting records.
Of those ballots cast 46 percent were registered Democrats and 36 percent were registered Republicans, but the votes won’t be tallied until the polls close on election night.
Secretary of State Natalie Tennant said Thursday while they can’t predict what kind of problems voters or poll workers may encounter on Election Day, her office is prepared for one in particular—electioneering at polling sites.
“A concern that we had in the primary election were people trying to get within that three hundred foot mark,” Tennant said.
Tennant said when people enter that boundary on Election Day to campaign for a candidate, or are even right on the line, it causes voters to question whether they are obeying rules. When those issues are then reported to poll workers, they have to leave the precincts to check on the problems, slowing down the voting process.
