CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Almost 6,000 West Virginians have voted early in the statewide road bond election, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Between the first day of early voting on Friday to midway through today, 5,858 West Virginians had voted.
As of the end of this past July, there were 1,225,653 registered voters in West Virginia.
Early voting is available in county courthouses from now until Oct. 4.
The official date of the road bond referendum is Oct. 7. Voting is from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. that day.
Early voting totals generally follow along with county population totals.
The highest number of early voters so far, 548, were in Kanawha County. There were 351 in Monongalia County.
On the opposite end, there was one early voter in Grant County. There were five in Doddridge and 11 in Pendleton.
If passed, the road bond referendum would give state officials authorization to issue and sell state bonds to be used for the improvement and construction of state roads.
The amendment calls for the sale of up to $1.6 billion in state bonds over the next four years. The payment on the debt from the bonds will come from the increase in gasoline taxes and Division of Motor Vehicle fees passed in the 2017 legislative session.
Paper ballots are being used because there is only one question on the ballot — whether voters are in favor of or opposed to the road bond.