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W.Va. early voting begins Wednesday

Wood County Clerk Mark Rhodes examines one of the county’s voting machines. Early voting will begin Wednesday in Wood County. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

PARKERSBURG — Early voting will begin Wednesday in Wood County.

The early voting location for Wood County will be at the Judge Black Annex at 315 Market St. in Parkersburg.

It will be open Wednesday through Nov. 5 from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, said Wood County Clerk Mark Rhodes. On Saturdays, early voting will be conducted from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Early voting will be conducted Nov. 1-Nov. 5 at the four satellite voting precincts: Williamstown City Building, 100 West Fifth St.; Vienna City Building, 609 29th St.; Mineral Wells Volunteer Fire Department, 1695 Elizabeth Pike; and Lubeck Volunteer Fire Department, 1340 Harris Highway.

Hours for the downtown and satellite sites will be the same, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturdays.

The Wood County Commission will be conducting the the public inspection of the voting machines at 10 a.m. Monday.

“Everything is on track,” Rhodes said. “We will be ready.”

There are over 54,700 registered voters in Wood County. The last day to register to vote was Oct. 18. The clerk’s office received around 400 voter registrations online that Tuesday, he said.

“It will take us into early next week to work through all of them,” Rhodes said this past Wednesday.

People were registering to vote as well as others making address changes and party changes.

“We should have their voter card by next week,” Rhodes said.

He was not sure why people would change their party affiliation now. Party affiliation changes would only affect the primaries in May since those are done by political party.

“As long as you are registered to vote, you will receive the same ballot in the General Election, no matter which party you belong to,” Rhodes said.

However, after a quick glance, Rhodes said many of the new registrations were for non-partisan individuals.

If people registered to vote online, they will have to show an ID when they go to vote. Having an ID is not yet required for all voters, but in 2018, all West Virginia voters will be required to show identification, he said.

Rhodes said it might be good for people to have it for the current election.

“If you have an ID, it would be good to have it handy,” he said.

At the polls, signature comparison is used to identify voters who have been voting in Wood County for a while. Voters have previously signed a poll slip.

“They bring up your signature that is on record,” Rhodes said.

In those instances, poll workers can still ask for someone to show an ID.

Officials do not expect the waiting times they experienced during the May primary as people had to vote for delegates to attend the National Republican Convention that was held in July.

“The ballot is a lot shorter now than it was in the primary,” Rhodes said. “It should only take them a couple of minutes to get through the ballot, instead of the 30-35 minutes waiting that it took a lot of people.

“The lines should move a lot faster, if there is even a line. We are hoping there is not.”

Rhodes is expecting a bigger turnout for the general election than in the primary.

“General elections see a bigger turnout than primary elections by around a third more voters usually,” he said.

That is due, in part, to the election of the president; however Rhodes said there are a lot of local races people are interested in, including mayors and city councils.

The county clerk’s office continues to process absentee ballots.

“We are at 621 absentee ballots that have already been sent out (as of Wednesday, Oct. 19),” Rhodes said. “There have been 169 returned.

“We had around 840 absentee ballots during the last presidential election.”

People have to have the application for absentee ballots back in the county clerk’s office by Nov. 2.

“It gives us the time to mail the ballot out for them to vote it and send it back to us,” Rhodes said. “Not everyone who applies for an absentee ballot qualifies.

“There are some conditions that have to be met. We look at those and review those as they come through. If they don’t qualify, we notify them.”

Some have involved people claiming they would be away for work, but the company they work for does not usually send people away where someone would not be able to go vote either during early voting or on election day.

“We would ask for clarification,” Rhodes said. “We take our absentee voting seriously just like we do all of our voting.

“It is one of those things that we want to make sure that there is not fraud going on.”

Most cases involve military personnel who will be out of state. People can call the county clerk’s office and the staff can send them an application or people can print one off online.

“They have to be postmarked by Nov. 8, Election Day, for them to count,” Rhodes said.

For information about early voting, getting an absentee ballot or other questions, call 304-424-1850.

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