WHEELING -- Ohio County Administrator Greg Stewart expects as many as half of the ballots for next week's primary election could be at the City-County Building prior to Election Day.
Today is the last day to request an absentee ballot in West Virginia, and ballots received must be returned to the Ohio County Commission Office or respective county clerks by the end of Election Day on June 9.
Stewart told county commissioners Tuesday night that thus far 7,673 absentee ballots have been requested in the county, and 5,010 returned. This means there are just over 2,600 ballots that remain outstanding.
Early voting also continues at the City-County Building, and happens from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day until the conclusion of early voting at 5 p.m. Saturday. If the number of early voting and absentee ballots received each reach 7,500, that would equal about 15,000 ballots cast prior to the opening of polls June 9.
Most recent voter registration information from the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office lists Ohio County as having 29,962 registered voters. Among these are 11,480 Democrats, and 10,281 Republicans.
"It looks like the potential is there for half of our votes to be in the building by Election Day," Stewart told commissioners.
In other matters, commissioners approved a contract with Jacobs Engineering Group of Columbus to provide engineering services for the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport. The company also has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The county now will begin negotiations with Jacobs Engineering for a contract, according to Stewart.
Last fall, the commissioners approved the purchase of 11 cruisers for the County Sheriff's Department. Ten of these have arrived, and most have been outfitted with the necessary equipment, Stewart said.
Sheriff Tom Howard said it had been "a really slow process" getting the cruisers, as the vehicles have to be retooled for law enforcement use and factories have been closed.
The next round of sheriff's cruisers bids will go out this summer, according to Stewart.
The commissioners met by teleconference Tuesday night, and plan to continue the practice "until most everything is opened up," according to Commission President Tim McCormick.
They will next meet at 6 p.m. on June 16.