×
×
homepage logo

Early voting now underway

By Staff | Oct 26, 2012

Early Voting for the 2012 General Election began Wednesday at county courthouses and courthouse annexes across West Virginia and will continue until 5 p.m. on Nov. 3.

The Early Voting period includes two Saturdays, Oct. 27 and Nov. 3. There will be no Early Voting on Sunday, Oct. 28. Citizens can check the hours of Early Voting in their county on the Secretary of State’s website at www.wvsos.com.

Election Day is Nov. 6 where polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Early Voting is a popular option for West Virginians. In the 2008 General Election, more than 153,000 people voted during the Early Voting period. That was almost 22 percent of all of the votes cast in that election. Even though the Early Voting period has been shortened since then, Secretary of State Natalie E. Tennant expects voter turnout to be strong.

“This is an election in which we are choosing our President, our delegation to Washington, our state leaders, and our local leaders,” Secretary Tennant said. “Even though this is the seventh statewide election since May of 2010, I am confident that the people of West Virginia will go to the polls to help decide in which direction our state and nation will go. There can be no such thing as voter fatigue when the issues facing us are so important.”

Overall turnout for the 2008 General Election was 58.7%.

Secretary Tennant also released voter registration totals for the General Election. There are 1,246,559 registered voters in West Virginia. According to the Statewide Voter Registration System, 640,532 Democrats, 358,655 Republicans, 1,385 Mountain, 222,016 people registered with no party affiliation, and 23,971 people registered with another political party are eligible to cast a ballot in the 2012 General Election.

Jefferson County has 13,446 Democrats, 10,316 Republicans, 81 Mountain Party, 10,897 registered as Independent (no party affiliation) and 834 representing other parties for a total of 35,574 registered voters.