Registration deadline approaching

Early voting approaching, too

Pam Brust
PARKERSBURG ­- Wood County residents have less than three weeks to register to vote in the May 13 primary.

The registration deadline is April 22.

Early voting will begin April 23 and end on May 10.

Election laws were changed several years ago to allow "no excuse" early voting for a period of 20 days, ending three days prior to an election.

"Originally, because of the 20 days early voting we actually had one year where we had a one day overlap. We actually had people coming in, changing their party affiliation, voting, then changing back. Then the Legislature changed the registration deadline to 21 days prior to the election. But there was a time when you could register and vote on the same day," Wood County Clerk Jamie Six said.

Six said while his office remains busy with registration, they haven't seen the surge in registration numbers being reported in some other areas of the country.

"We are getting more than usual, but it's still nothing like what we had back in 1988. We've not seen a huge increase. But we are prepared for people coming in at the last minute to register, that's happened in the past. There are also so many opportunities to register without coming into our office, people are taking advantage of those options," Six said.

Six said the April 22 voter registration deadline is for new registrations or party changes.

"You can still change your address, as long it's still within Wood County, up to election day, at the polls. But remember, you must go to your new polling place to vote," he said.

A change in the West Virginia primary voting procedure this year permits those not registered with either of the two major political parties to ask for a ballot from either the Democrat or Republican parties. Voters registered as nonpartisan must remember they have to specifically request a Democrat or Republican ballot, pollworkers are not permitted to suggest one.

Six said the county has been running about 20 percent of the voters using the early vote option, so he's anticipating between 5,000 and 6,000 voters will take advantage of the early voting opportunity. He plans to double the number if touchscreen voting machines that will be available for early voting.

Early voting will also be made available on two Saturdays, May 3 and May 10, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Early voting will be conducted at the Judge Donald F. Black Courthouse Annex in the public meeting rooms. The rooms are accessible through the double doors in the annex on the Market Street side of the building.

The most recent voter registration numbers show Wood County has 21,686 registered Democrats, 21,533 Republicans, 8,289 non-affiliated, and other parties listed as 306.

For the 2004 primary, Wood County had 22,189 Democrats, 20,792 Republicans, 7,369 no party, and with other unaffiliated, a total of 50,526, according to statistics from the secretary of stateás office. For the 2000 primary, Wood County saw 19,959 Democrats, 18,423 Republicans, 4,653 other and with other unaffiliated parties, a total of 43,051 registered. In 1996, Wood County had 21,393 Democrats registered on the active rolls, 19,161 Republicans, 3,735 Independents totalling 44,289 active voters.

Voter registration is available through governmental entities such as the West Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Voter registration forms can also be downloaded from the secretary of state's Web site at www.wvsos.com or from Wood County's Web site: www.woodcountywv.com. The voter registration office at the courthouse is on the fourth floor, office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Residents should bring a driverás license with their current Wood County address. A utility bill, bank statement, government documents, or pay stub are also acceptable as long as they have the current address. Post office boxes and rural routes will not be accepted, the new 911 address must be used.

Anyone who will be 18 by the Nov. 4 general election can register and vote in the primary.

Anyone who has not voted in an election in seven years may have had their registration purged. They need to check the status of their registration by calling the clerkás office at 424-1860.