CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Saturday is the last day of the 10-day early voting period in West Virginia for next week’s election.
Secretary of State Kris Warner said the state entered Friday with just more than 48,000 voters casting ballots in 55 counties, a turnout in the single digits.
Kanawha County Clerk Vera McCormick said things had picked up a little at Kanawha County’s nine early voting locations Thursday and Friday but only just more than 6,000 voters had cast ballots as of Friday afternoon.
Kanawha County had more than 30,000 early voters before the November 2024 General Election. McCormick said it’s really not fair to compare the two elections.
“It’s a little bit slower but we really don’t have a big turnout most of the time for a Primary Election in an off (non-presidential) year,” McCormick said.
Early voting locations will be open for one final day on Saturday. The offices will be open until 5 p.m.
“I hope people realize that is their privilege and their right to vote and they ought to get out to vote,” McCormick said.
The Secretary of State’s Office reminds voters of the following information:
The May 12 Primary Election is the first election to require photo identification to vote. If a voter does not have a photo ID, Warner advises them to take a friend or family member with them who can verify their identification. Warner said that no registered voter will be turned away although they may be required to vote a provisional ballot. Provisional ballots will not be counted until the canvassing takes place and then only with the approval of the Board of Canvassers.
Warner is encouraging voters to use his office’s sample ballot lookup tool.
MetroNews Decision 2026 comprehensive election night coverage begins at 7:06 Tuesday night both over the air and on the MetroNews Television App. Follow the votes on the election page at wvmetronews.com.