West Virginia’s General Election in-person voting begins Wednesday with early voting. By law, early voting begins 13 days before Election Day and lasts for ten days. The last day to early vote is Saturday, November 2.
Early voting has grown in popularity since the state adopted it more than 20 years ago.
The 2004 election was the first presidential election year where early voting was allowed in the state and, according to the Secretary of State’s office, 103,690 voters cast ballots within that ten-day window. That represented about 14 percent of all votes.
That is not a substantial number, but voters were just getting used to early voting after years of being required to vote on Election Day.
The number of early voters increased to nearly 146,000 in 2008 and then rose to 148,000 in 2012. In 2012, 22 percent of all the votes were cast early in-person.
The 2016 General Election saw the early vote totals rise to a new high of 209,087, and that represented 29 percent of the total vote. But also, the overall turnout was a little higher that year, 57 percent in 2016 compared with 55 percent in 2012.
The biggest year for early voting was the last presidential election. In 2020, 259,323 West Virginians showed up to vote before Election Day. That represented one-third (33 percent) of all votes cast. That was also a big election in the state, with a 63 percent turnout.
Early voting has become the norm across the country. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, only “three states—Alabama, Mississippi and New Hampshire—do not offer early in-person voting, though they may provide options for eligible absentee voters.”
The biggest advantage of early voting is convenience. Citizens have multiple opportunities to vote rather than just one day. In addition, voters can often avoid potential lines on Election Day if there is a heavy turnout.
Also, voters who are weary of the ads and news stories about races can, if they choose, tune out the noise after they have voted. But that can cut both ways.
It is always possible that some added information will surface about a candidate or a race in the closing days that would change a voter’s mind. Early voting does not allow for that.
According to the Secretary of State’s office, early votes are counted on Election Day. Some counties will process the early votes during the day, but no totals are released until after the polls close.
Check with your county clerk or monitor local media to find the early voting location in your county. (Here is a link to a list of those locations.)