Wood County Clerk: Filing deadline for public office is noon Saturday
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PARKERSBURG -- The Wood County Clerk reminds potential candidates interested in running for public office in the upcoming May Primary Election that they have until noon Saturday to file.
The Wood County Clerk's office at the Wood County Courthouse will be open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today and Friday and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday.
Wood County Clerk Joe Gonzales said candidates can do a mail-in filing as long as it is postmarked by Saturday, Jan. 27.
For every candidate who files, County Clerk personnel put the information on their website daily. Candidates can have their candidate filings notarized by the deputy clerks when they come into the clerk's office.
"We do that as a courtesy," Gonzales said. "Many people come in and fill out the forms at the counter (in the County Clerk's office) and our people witness them sign their forms and notarize it."
People mailing in the forms can have their forms notarized as long as the notary witnesses them signing their forms before they are mailed in, officials said.
People need to get into the Clerk's office or get their forms in the mail as soon as possible to meet all the appropriate deadlines.
"We encourage candidates interested in filing to come in as soon as possible rather than wait until the last second," he said. "We want to get them all in, recorded and stamped before 12 p.m. (Saturday) preferably."
County Clerk personnel said they verify a person's identity through their driver's license or state ID when they come in to file.
"Many people come in and file here (at the County Clerk's Office)," Gonzales said.
Parkersburg City Clerk Connie Shaffer will be in her office at the Parkersburg City Building from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday for anyone interested in filing to run for a city office, mayor or city council.
New people filing for office as of Wednesday were:
* Valori Mace, Wood County Magistrate, Division 5 (non-partisan)
* Charles F. Hughes Jr., Surveyor
The primary election for the State of West Virginia and in Wood County will be held May 14. The county will have early voting at the Judge Black Annex at 315 Market St. from May 1 to May 11.
Community early voting sites will be open May 7-11 at the Williamstown City Building, 100 W. Fifth St., Williamstown; the Vienna Community Building, 609 29th St., Vienna; the Mineral Wells Volunteer Fire Department, 1695 Elizabeth Pike, Mineral Wells; and the Lubeck Volunteer Fire Department, 1340 Harris Highway, Parkersburg.
All the early voting sites will be open Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The county will take absentee ballot applications Jan. 1 through May 8.
The deadline for voter registration is April 23.
Absentee ballots will be mailed out from March 29 through May 8. Returned ballots have to be postmarked May 14 to be counted.
Poll worker training will be April 15-19.
The clerk's office is looking for volunteers to help work the voting locations. The positions are paid.
"We are always in need of poll workers," Gonzales said.
People can call the Wood County Clerk's Office at 304-424-1850 for more information.
Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com