CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Kanawha County Ballot Commission voted to order up more than 50,000 new ballots a day after the Supreme Court ruled a Republican candidate can run for office in the November election.
Marie Sprouse-McDavid was at the Kanawha County Courthouse as the commission voted unanimously Thursday morning to add her name to the ballot in the 35th District House race.
“We’ve got the ballot proofed. We’re going to send it back to the printers,” said Kanawha County Clerk Vera McCormick. “We’ll get on with this election.”
Back in August, Republican Delegate Suzette Raines announced she was dropping out of the race in the 35th District for personal reasons. The GOP wanted McDavid to run in Raines’ stead but the state Election Commission refused to allow another name on the ballot. On Wednesday, the state Supreme Court overruled the SEC and McDavid’s name will now appear on the Nov. 4 ballot.
The election is just 34 days away. However, McDavid isn’t daunted by her limited time.
“Campaigning, sign making, door-knocking, I’m ready to go! I’ve got everything in place,” stressed McDavid. “Today starts the first day of the sprint.”
The county will be sprinting as well. The new ballot will head to the printers on Monday. Once they’re returned, McCormick said the new ballots will be immediately sent out to those who have already received an absentee ballot in the 35th.
“We have already sent a letter to the absentee voters who have already been sent a ballot explaining we will send a new ballot,” said the county clerk. “They need to fill out the whole ballot when they receive their next ballot. When we send that out, we’ll also send instructions they’re to vote the full ballot. We’ve asked them to send back both ballots in their separate envelopes.”
The ballot change won’t come cheap.
“It’s going to cost, with overtime and everything, about $37,000,” according to McCormick.
However, the county won’t be shelling out those dollars. The Secretary of State’s Office sent out a press release saying it will pick up the tab.
The new ballots will be back from the printers in plenty of time for early voting which gets underway Oct. 22.