Voter Registration Story Archives - Page 2 of 4 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

GOP Gains Registered Voters In W.Va., Still Lags Behind Dems

Registered Republican voters in West Virginia have increased since Donald Trump won office but still lags behind Democrats entering a presidential election year, according to voter registration figures from the secretary of state’s office.

Overall registration numbers in West Virginia have fallen as residents continue to leave the state and elections officials removed invalid registrations, The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register reported.

There were 488,148 registered Democrats in the state at the end of December, a 14.5 percent drop since November 2016. Meanwhile, there was a 3.2 percent increase in registered Republicans to 411,872 since the election of Trump, according to Secretary of State figures.

There also were 278,851 registered voters without a party affiliation, a 4.4 percent jump from the 2016 election.

In 2016, despite registered Democrats far outnumbering Republicans in West Virginia, the state gave Trump his largest margin of victory — 42 percentage points.

But the state has lost 83,119 registered Democrats since then and there are 32,393 fewer Democrats registered in the past year. GOP registrations have increased by 13,325 since Trump’s election and by 5,540 over the past year.

The overall number of registered voters in West Virginia was 1.225 million at the end of December, down 4 percent from 1.277 million in November 2016.

West Virginia’s population has fallen for seven straight years. The state lost more than 12,000 people from 2018 to 2019.

Op-Ed: Tuesday, Sept. 24, is National Voter Registration Day

On this National Voter Registration Day, Sept. 24, the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Elections Office looks forward to efforts which get our communities “vote ready.”

The electoral process works best when our elections reflect input from everyone in our community. Which is why it is not only important to ensure you are registered, but your friends, family and neighbors are, too.

The first and perhaps the most important step to getting involved is ensuring you are registered to vote. Our team has compiled all of the information a voter needs, including polling places, deadlines, absentee ballot information and more at GoVoteWV.com. Visit the site, check your registration and save the URL for when you need it.

Note that getting yourself involved is only part of the effort. National Voter Registration Day is meant to be a single, coordinated effort across the county to raise awareness of voter registration opportunities and register as many eligible voters as possible. The event is supported by election officials from both sides of the aisle along with every major association of election officials in the country.

Since Secretary Mac Warner took office in January 2017, more than 130,000 new voters have registered. As of Sept. 18, more than 2,000 new voters have registered just this month in West Virginia.

On this National Voter Registration Day, Secretary Warner has said he hopes to see at least one voter registration drive in every county. Many County Clerks across the state will host their own events on this day. You can find your local office at GoVoteWV.com.

In addition, several organizations have requested voter registration forms for their own events. Note that any individual or organization can host a voter registration drive by requesting forms from our office. If you wish to simply register people from your phone, tablet or computer, let us know so we can keep up with your event.

Remember, your participation in the upcoming election is key to democracy. But you must be registered to vote.

Brittany Westfall is the Director of Elections for the State of West Virginia.

More Than 10,000 New Teen Voters Registered in W.Va. Last Year

More than 15,600 high school seniors in West Virginia registered to vote during the 2018-2019 school year.

The majority of those newly registered high school voters came out of Kanawha and Berkeley Counties – both seeing more than 1,000 young new voters, according to a news release from the Secretary of State’s Office.

Secretary of State Mac Warner said voter registration in most West Virginia high schools is a student-led effort and said this large number of new registrations is an “incredible accomplishment in such a short period of time.”

To date, a total of 128,704 West Virginians, of all ages, have registered to vote since 2017. Of those, 36,000 were high school seniors when they registered.

To see a list with the breakdown of high school voter registration by county during the 2018-2019 academic year, click here. The list is courtesy of the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office.

W.Va. Officials Think Voter Registration Problems are Fixed

West Virginia officials say they believe problems with voter registrations have been fixed.

The Register-Herald reports Donald Kersey, who is general counsel for Secretary of State Mac Warner’s office, has said dozens of people reported during the 2018 election that they thought they had registered locally but the state hadn’t received their paperwork.

Officials at the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles said this month that they believe a programming change in January fixed the problem.

Acting DMV commissioner Adam Holley said in an email that state officials have completed two rounds of testing that found no problems.

Kersey said he also believes the problem is fixed, but was waiting for a final confirmation.

Voter Registration Over in W.Va., But 'Inactive' Voters Can Still Vote

Voter registration for the upcoming November 6th General Election is now closed. The online portal will not be reopened until after the general election in November.

All registrations that were mailed will be added to the voter rolls so long as they were postmarked on or before October 16th.

According to Secretary of State Mac Warner, there have been 92,189 new voters registered since he took office in January 2017. Of those new voters, 26,008 were high school students.

Any registered voter whose registration status is “inactive” is still eligible to vote a regular ballot, according to the release. “Inactive” voters will be made “active” after casting a ballot in any election.

To check the status of your voter registration, click “Check My Voter Registration” under the Voter Quick Links section at www.GoVoteWV.com.

Last Day to Register to Vote in West Virginia is Here

Updated on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018 at 3:55 p.m.

Today is the last day to register to vote in West Virginia’s upcoming midterm election.

The West Virginia Secretary of State’s office says voters have until midnight tonight to register online to vote. And mail-in registrations must be postmarked by today, October 16.

Folks can register by visiting their county clerk’s office, the Secretary of State’s office, or registering online by visiting www.GoVoteWV.com.

Aside from a U.S. Senate race, all three of West Virginia’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for grabs – as well as state-level House and Senate seats.

Also, on the ballot, there are two unexpired terms on the bench of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. And two constitutional amendments — one dealing with abortion and another focused on the state judicial branch’s budget.

The midterm election is Nov. 6.

Early voting begins Oct. 24 and runs until Nov. 3. Early voting hours and locations are determined by county clerk’s offices.