Absentee Voting Available To Anyone Due to Coronavirus Emergency

Update 5/20/20:

Remember: Due to COVID-19, all West Virginia voters have the option to vote absentee. All registered voters should have received an absentee ballot application in the mail. This is the safest way to vote while protecting your health and the health of others.

If you have not received an absentee ballot application, you should contact your county clerk right away.

If you requested your ballot but haven’t received it, check the absentee ballot tracking system to see if your ballot has been sent to you. If the request does not appear in the tracker within a week of submitting an absentee application, contact your county clerk. Your clerk must receive your application by June 3.

You can still vote in person if you choose. Check out the resources below to learn more about your voting options. If you request an absentee ballot but then choose to vote in person, be sure to take your absentee ballot with you for the poll worker to spoil.

Additional Voting Information

A Pandemic Voter Guide For West Virginia’s 2020 Primary from WV Public Broadcasting (published 5/14/2020)

FAQ from the Secretary of State

GoVoteWV.com

Important Instructions for Absentee Ballots

Candidate Information

WV Court Elections (Supreme Court): Three of the most important votes you will cast in the 2020 primary are your picks for the WV Supreme Court. Learn more about these important races and the candidates at https://www.wvcourtelections.org/.

Herald-Dispatch (US Senate – House of Reps – Governor – Attorney General – Commissioner of Ag – Auditor – Supreme Court): https://www.herald-dispatch.com/elections/wv_candidates/west-virginia-voter-information/article_d465d5cc-9f83-11e5-a1fd-475521e5c95b.html

League of Women Voters of WV – Statewide, plus some legislative and county offices:  https://lwvwv.org/voting-during-covid-19/#vote

Covid 19 Resources, Support & Volunteer Opportunities

RapidResponseWV.org – a joint effort of a growing number of nonprofit organizations and community leaders to support our neighbors through this crisis.

Vote Together WV – Want to make friends, win prizes, and connect with your neighbors about voting safely in the era of COVID-19? Sign up here: http://tiny.cc/VoteTogetherWV

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Wondering how the COVID-19 crisis will impact the West Virginia’s 2020 primary and judicial elections? Two weeks ago, the Secretary of State announced that every registered West Virginia voter is eligible to vote absentee during this public health emergency. This week, Governor Justice announced that he is using his emergency powers to delay the primary until June 9, past the anticipated peak of the coronavirus outbreak.

(Update 4/27/20: For more voting information check out this FAQ from the Secretary of State or visit GoVoteWV.com. It’s important for everyone to understand how important this election is and how to make their voices heard as safely as possible. Sign-up for the #VoteTogetherWV phone bank to help people vote in the era of COVID-19. Learn more here.)

In the meantime, county clerks are moving forward with plans to send an absentee ballot application to all registered voters unless they have already requested or submitted an application. The application will be in the form of a postcard that is specific to COVID-19 as the excuse to request a ballot. You can expect to receive the application in the mail in early to mid April. The Secretary of State and county clerks recommend that voters return their applications as soon as possible. Once your application is approved, the county clerk will mail you a postage prepaid absentee ballot with instructions. (Update 4/13/20: If you don’t receive an application in the mail by April 17, contact your county clerk or obtain an application online. More here and here. County clerks will begin mailing out the actual ballots on April 24.)

We encourage you to avoid in person voting and take advantage of this option, as this is the safest way to vote while protecting your health and the health of others. Another way to to observe physical distancing precautions and help limit the number of people congregating at any one site at a given time is to early vote at a community voting location. Early voting is now scheduled to take place from May 27 – June 6. Because West Virginia was able to plan ahead, hopefully the election can take place without the confusion and disruptions that occurred in other states that held elections in March, as the outbreak began to worsen. However, we should anticipate another delay if the coronavirus outbreak has not abated or intensifies.

For things to go smoothly, new poll workers will be needed to help administer the election. You can help by contacting your county clerk and volunteering to serve as a poll worker, if you aren’t part of an more at-risk group (or living or caring for someone who is). To be prepared, we should also anticipate changes in polling locations, as well as longer waits with the additional measures that need to take place to ensure sanitation. With more people voting absentee, we also have to expect it to take longer to get the election results.

One solution that would help ensure West Virginians are able to cast a ballot and protect their health in situations like this would be to adopt universal vote by mail. However, state elections officials say they don’t have the infrastructure or capacity to do this in advance of the primary. The Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act of 2020 would give every American the ability to vote by mail, by providing states with the resources they need to make this happen and ensure fair elections while protecting public health and safety. Contact Senators Manchin and Capito and urge passage of the The Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act of 2020.

You can also tell Congress we need funding to protect the 2020 Election from Covid-19 by signing this petition by our friends at the Brennan Center for Justice.

No matter how you vote, we want to make sure you have the information you need to participate in our elections and to do so safely, so stay tuned to GoVoteWV.com for updates. WVCCE will also be posting updates on our Facebook page and website.

How to Request an Absentee Ballot:

NOTE: All registered voters will be mailed an absentee ballot application for the primary election. If you are registered, you do not have to request the application. It is automatically being mailed to you. Check your registration status at GoVoteWV.com. The Secretary of State says that voters can expect to receive an absentee ballot application in the mail starting the week of April 6. If you are not yet registered, register and request an absentee ballot using the instructions below.

1.Obtain the West Virginia Absentee Ballot Application:

• Download and print the application from GoVoteWV.com; or

• Call or email your county clerk to request the application be mailed to you (see county clerk directory at GoVoteWV.com for contact information)

2. Fill out the application in your own handwriting

• Note: Make sure to check the first box for “Illness, injury or other medical reason which keeps me confined” in Section 4 of the application

3. Return the application to your county clerk by

• Mail; or

• Email; or

• Fax

Note: Your county clerk must receive your application by June 3.

Voters may only apply and vote absentee in the county where they live. To make sure your registration is up-to-date, click “Check Your Voter Registration Record” at GoVoteWV.com.

Registered voters may request their absentee ballots from now until June 3.

The deadline to register to vote for the Primary Election is May 19 and can be completed at GoVoteWV.com.

Absentee ballots must be postmarked on or before election day (June 9), or hand-delivered the day before the election (June 8).