CHARLESTON, W.Va. — County clerks will be busy next Monday as canvasses for this year’s primary election will take place, in which officials will count absentee ballots received after Tuesday.
The West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office sent 261,277 ballots to registered voters ahead of Tuesday’s primary, in which 217,880 — 83.4% of all absentee ballots — were cast by the time polls closed Tuesday. Ballots had to be postmarked by Tuesday to be counted.
Voters could use the coronavirus pandemic has an excuse for requesting an absentee ballot.
Secretary of State Mac Warner said on Wednesday’s MetroNews “Talkline” while the turnout was good, the preliminary number of voters is less than the 2016 primary election.
“There’s still a lot of ballots out there,” he added.
Warner noted a non-coronavirus factor possibly affecting voter turnout: the lack of competitive presidential contests. President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden secured the Republican Party and Democratic Party nominations before Tuesday.
“Previously, West Virginia may have been a player in deciding one of those major candidates, but this year, Trump and Biden already had that sealed up,” he said. “Maybe some of the luster was off of the primary in addition to the pandemic.”
Warner called the election successful, adding there were no widespread problems with voters casting their ballots on Tuesday as in states like Georgia, where voters had to wait hours.
Warner will reach out to county clerks about changes to be made in case the general election calls for utilizing absentee voting.