Voter Registration - ID Requirement - Acceptable Forms of ID - In-Person Early Voting - Absentee Voting - Provisional Voting - Sample Ballots - Type of Primary

State Contact Information
Secretary of State
Bldg. 1, Suite 157-K
1900 Kanawha Blvd. East
Charleston, WV 25305-0770
Phone: (304) 558-6000
Fax: (304) 558-8386
Web: http://www.wvsos.com/elections/main.htm
Email: elections@wvsos.com

Voter Registration
Who can register to vote:
You are eligible to register to vote in West Virginia if you are:
• A resident of West Virginia and the county where you register.
• A U.S. citizen.
• At least 17 years old and 18 before the next general election.
• Not currently under conviction for a felony, including probation or parole, or a court ruling of mental incompetence. (Voting rights are restored when the term of conviction ends.)

How to register to vote:

In person
You may register at any of these offices. If it is close to an election, registering at the county clerk's office is the best place to go to be certain you will be on the books on Election Day. Bring proof of physical address. (i.e. driver's license; utility bill; bank statement; paycheck; and other government document):
• The county clerk's office at your county courthouse
• Driver license offices
• Public assistance agencies
• Agencies which serve people with disabilities
• Marriage license offices (at county clerk's offices)
• Military recruiting offices

By mail
Request an application from your county clerk or the Secretary of State, or Register now by downloading a mail-in registration form.

You can obtain voter registration applications for a voter registration drive by contacting our office and submitting a Mail-In Voter Registration Request Form. This Request Form is available at our office. A printable version of the Mail-In Voter Registration Application is also available at Voter Registration Application and can be duplicated and used as many times as needed.

If voting is important to you, take these steps:
• If you registered in person at the county clerk's office and have your voter card, make sure you know where your precinct voting place is located.
• If you registered at an agency or by mail, you should have received your voter card by mail from the county clerk. If you didn't receive it, call the clerk to see if your registration was completed.
• If you registered by mail, remember to take your driver's license or other ID and proof of age to the polls the first time you vote.
• If you change your name, residence or political party, file those changes to your voter registration.

If you move within your county or change your name, update your registration in one of these ways:
• At your county clerk's office or other registration office.
• By mail, using the regular mail-in voter registration form.
• Request an application form
• Update your registration now by downloading a mail-in registration form
• At your polling place, if you did not move to a different precinct.
• At your new polling place if you moved to a new precinct, although you will have to vote a provisional ballot since your registration would not be available to check.

If you move to another county in West Virginia, you must register there. See "How Do I Register?" (above) for the answer.

Close of registration: You may register at any time. To be eligible to vote in a specific election, you must register 21 days before that election.

ID Requirement
Only first-time voters who register by mail and do not provide ID verification with their registration must show ID before voting. Photo and non-photo ID are accepted.

Acceptable Forms of ID
• driver's licenses
• pay stubs
• bank statements
• utility bills
• or other government issued

In Person Early Voting (open)
Who can vote early in person:
Any registered voter may vote early in person at election offices, or

How to vote early in person:
Go to the County Clerk's Office and ask to vote early in-person. You will then vote as you would on Election Day, in a voting booth just as at the precinct. If a paper ballot is used, your voted ballot will be sealed in an envelope and placed in the ballot box.
On Election Day, your ballot will go to the precinct where it will be counted or placed with other ballots for computer tabulation.

When to vote early in person:
See the Absentee Calendar for specific dates and Early Voting Hours by County.
The regular period of early voting in person begins 20 days before the election and continues until three days before the election. Voting is available during regular business hours, plus, it may be available two Saturdays before the election. Check with the appropriate office for more information.

Absentee Voting/Vote by Mail (open)
Who can request to vote by absentee ballot (by mail):
Any registered voter may vote by absentee ballot without having to provide a reason or excuse.
How to request an absentee ballot:
You may request an application by telephone, fax or e-mail, or download the application here using the Acrobat Reader. Type the information in all the boxes, and then print the completed form for filing. To download Acrobat Reader or see tips for using it, go to Acrobat Reader Help.

Click here to download the application

When to request an absentee ballot:
Applications to vote by mail must be received no later than the 6th day before the election. Interested voters may apply as early as eight weeks before the election (or January 2 for military or overseas voters), but the ballots are not ready for mailing to you until six weeks before the election. Unless you are voting absentee by mail because of illness or disability, the ballot must be mailed to an out-of-county address.

When to return completed absentee ballot: Close of polls on Election Day

Voting An Emergency Absentee Ballot

How can a person vote by an Emergency Ballot:
A ballot can be brought to you at the hospital or nursing facility if you have been admitted because of an emergency during the last week before the election. The service is available at all hospitals within your home county. Your county may adopt a policy to extend this service to other hospitals in adjacent counties or within 30 miles from the county seat. Check with the County Clerk to determine what hospitals are served.

A family member may request the emergency absentee voting service by telephone. The County Clerk will schedule a team of emergency absentee voting commissioners to go to the voter at the hospital. The team takes the application and the ballot and returns the voted ballot to the County Clerk.

When:
See the Absentee Calendar for specific dates. The voter's emergency admission must have occurred no earlier than the 7th day before the election. The ballot must be requested no later than noon of election day.

Provsional Voting (in precinct)
A "provisional ballot" can be considered a temporary ballot. Federal law provides for voters whose eligibility is in question to cast a ballot. A provisional ballot is not counted until voter eligibility can be determined by Election officials. Provisional voting was established nationwide by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). This means that no person who says they are registered to vote may be denied their right to vote. Provisional ballots must be cast in the voter's precinct in order to be counted.

If there is a question about your eligibility to vote in an election, you will be required to vote a provisional ballot. Your ballot will not be opened on election night. The canvassing board will review the information associated with the ballot at the canvass and will determine whether or not your vote can be counted. You may learn how your provisional ballot was handled by contacting your county official or by contacting the Secretary of State's office, Elections Division, at www.wvsos.com or 1-866-SOS-VOTE.

Sample Ballots
Find your county's candidate list or sample ballot for the West Virginia Primary and General Elections here: http://www.wvsos.com/elections/ballots/ballots.htm#County

Type of Primary (closed)
West Virginia has a closed primary -- meaning you may only vote the ballot of the party in which you are registered, although some parties allow no party affiliates to vote their ballots. A party change must be filed by the close of registration (21 days) before a primary election for you to be eligible to vote the new party's ballot in the primary. For more information, see Voters & Political Party Affiliation. You may change your party:
• At your county clerk's office or other registration office.
• By mail, using the regular mail-in voter registration form.
• Request an application form
• Update your registration now by downloading a mail-in registration form