WHEELING - Voting for the 2008 presidential election starts Wednesday in West Virginia, and residents of the state not already registered to vote must do so by Tuesday if they want to vote this year.
Although Tuesday is the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 4 general election in West Virginia, county courthouses will be closed Monday in observance of Columbus Day.
Early voting in the state then starts Wednesday morning and extends through Saturday, Nov. 1.
Northern Panhandle voters will be able to cast early ballots on weekdays at their respective county courthouses at the following times: Brooke County - 9 a.m to 5 p.m.; Hancock County - 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Marshall County - 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and until 5:30 p.m. Fridays; Ohio County - 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tyler County - 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In Wetzel County, the hours are from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays.
All courthouses will also be open for voting from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, and Saturday, Nov. 1.
Ohio County Coordinator of Elections Toni Chieffalo said more than 200 in the county registered to vote in just the past week, and she is expecting a big turnout Tuesday.
She said the number of registered voters in the county has jumped from 32,355 in August to 32,818 as of Friday morning with at least another 100 registrations to be added to the totals.
"All the voter registrations ... I didn't realize there were that many people in the county not registered," Chieffalo said. "I'm expecting a big turnout. We will be closed Monday, so Tuesday will be interesting."
It will take officials a few days to enter all the new voter registrations into their records systems, she noted.
Early voting will take place in the first floor municipal courtroom at the City-County Building, 1500 Chapline St., Wheeling.
Some residents who register Tuesday and then show up to vote early Wednesday morning may find they are not yet on the voting rolls, Chieffalo acknowledged.
In that event, the newly registered voter will be sent upstairs to the county commission office to verify their status, she said. After the new voter's registration card is found, they will quickly be added into the system so they can vote.
Chieffalo wishes there were at least a week between the end of the voter registration period and the start of early voting so that all the work could be completed.
"It makes it tough that way," she said.