CHARLESTON, W.Va. — It’s been a long year for county clerks in West Virginia with a presidential election year during a pandemic. All of the preparations come to a climax Tuesday with the General Election.
Those clerks have already taken in more than 253,000 ballots from the 10-day early voting period and as of Monday, 136,000 mail-in absentee ballots from a process expanded because of the pandemic.
Berkeley County Chief Deputy of Elections Darrell Shull said if early, in-person voting is any indication, Berkeley County is on track for record election participation.
“We had lines every day. Our busiest day was during a heavy, heavy rainstorm we had all day long and we processed the most voters of all, 1,240 on that day,” Shull said during a Monday appearance on MetroNews “Talkline.”
Darrell Shull, Berkeley County’s Chief Deputy Clerk of Elections, talks with @HoppyKercheval about preparing for election day tomorrow, and how early voting went in Berkeley County. WATCH: https://t.co/yCFQ3nDJuy pic.twitter.com/Lic8bA68ZS
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) November 2, 2020
Shull said all the early votes have been processed and are ready to be tabulated Tuesday night with election results. He said his office continues to process absentee ballots as they come in.
The West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office reports as of Monday morning, 10,821 voters had cast in-person early ballots and 10,186 had returned absentee ballots in Berkeley County. That means at least 24% of the county’s eligible voters have already cast ballots ahead of tomorrow’s election.
In nearby Jefferson County, 28.4% had already voted as of Monday morning. In Morgan County, early turnout is 28.8% ahead of the election.
Putnam County Clerk Brian Wood is pleased that more than 30% of the county’s registered voters have already cast ballots for Tuesday’s election. He was busy Monday making each precincts had the proper supplies, include a box of pandemic-related materials.
“We want everybody to be safe. We want everybody to have a good, pleasurable experience at the polls and we’ll look forward to having a good election,” Wood said.
Brian Wood, Putnam County Clerk, speaks with @HoppyKercheval about early voting in Putnam County, and preparations for people coming into the polls tomorrow to vote. WATCH: https://t.co/yCFQ3nDJuy pic.twitter.com/p2bivZsxGJ
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) November 2, 2020
Wood said masks are strongly encouraged but no one can be denied the right to vote if they choose not to wear one.
“That’s properly be one of the most difficult things to balance in this election. You never want to deny anybody the right to vote but you also want to make sure if keep everyone safe, healthy and happy,” Wood said.
Wood and other county clerks are reminding voters about the state law that prohibits electioneering within 100 feet of a polling place. Jackson County Clerk Cheryl Bright said that includes masks that promote candidates.
“Wearing any kind of campaign clothing or masks or anything like that–that’s the same as electioneering,” Bright told MetroNews affiliate WMOV Radio in Ravenswood. “Be aware of that. We will have some additional masks on hand that we can offer someone.”
Polls are set to open Tuesday morning at 6:30 and close at 7:30 p.m., but anyone standing in line at closing time will be allowed to vote.
MetroNews Decision 2020 coverage begins at 7:06 p.m. Tuesday on radio stations across the state and at wvmetronews.com.