CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Early voting is underway ahead of the May 12 primary elections, but numbers so far show that relatively few West Virginians are taking the opportunity to cast their ballots before Tuesday.
The West Virginia Secretary of State’s office reported Wednesday that in the first week of early voting, 33,138 people voted early. That number represents only 2.8% of registered voters in the state, and Secretary of State Kris Warner said that county clerks he’s visited are telling him turnout is low so far.
“All five have told me that they’ve just felt like it’s been a lower turnout, but the numbers tell a slightly different story, and that it’s very similar to what we’ve had in past non-presidential primary elections in West Virginia,” he said.
In some parts of the state, a decline is showing up statistically, with Ohio County reporting a significant decrease compared to the 2024 general election. Less than two years later, more than 10,000 fewer early ballots have been cast.
“In the 2024 general, we did more than 11,000 in the entirety of early voting if that tells you anything. We’re winding down early voting—these are the last few days—and we’re only at 616, so it has been uneventful,” Ohio County election coordinator Erin Allietta said.
Turnout is so low in some areas that election officials are altering their plans ahead of Tuesday. In Berkeley County, Clerk Tony Petrucci decided to eliminate two of the county’s three early voting locations after slow response.
“Normally we do ten days for each one. We’re only doing ten days for the one here at our facility. The other ones we cut off,” he said.
Berkeley County could reopen those locations if demand requires it, but that may not be necessary. While Petrucci is hoping for a greater turnout in the final days, the numbers in Berkeley County are even lower than what is being seen statewide.
“As of (Tuesday) evening, we have 2,313 people that’s voted so you’re looking at 2.01%,” he said.
In the northern panhandle, Allietta is starting to see numbers increase but is not counting on a large number of early voters as the week comes to a close. With a lower population in Ohio County, the numbers are similar to what Petrucci reports to the east.
“It’s been very slow. Today, actually this morning, we’ve had a steady stream since we opened, but overall we’ve only seen about 2% voter turnout,” she said.
Early voting continues across the state through Saturday, May 9.