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WHEELING - It’s less than a month away from Election Day, and there are voting-related deadlines coming in the following days to look out for before voting on Nov. 3.
For those not currently registered to vote, the deadline to register is midnight on Oct. 13. Prospective voters may register in person at their local courthouse, or online at ovr.sos.wv.gov/Register/Landing#Landing.
Absentee ballots may be obtained by filling out the needed application at the courthouse, or by contacting the respective county clerk's office. Ohio County residents should contact the Ohio County Commission office at 304-234-3628 for voting-related needs. In Marshall County, the clerk's office number is 304-845-1220.
Early voting takes place across West Virginia from Oct. 21 through Oct. 31 at county courthouses. Voters may cast ballots during normal business hours on weekdays, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. There is no early voting on Sundays.
According to information provided by the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office, voters may request an emergency absentee ballot beginning on Oct. 27 until noon on Election Day. A voter may be eligible to receive an emergency absentee ballot under the following conditions:
- If they expect to be hospitalized on Election Day
- If they are a replacement poll worker appointed after the period for Early Voting
- If they are a voter in a licensed health care facility within an adjacent county or within 35 miles of the county seat (county policy required)
- A voter in a nursing home within the county if he or she has resided there for a period of less than 30 days (county policy required)
- If a voter becomes confined on or after the seventh day preceding an election to a specific location within the county because of illness, injury, physical disability, or immobility due to advanced age or other medical reason (county policy required).
Regular absentee ballot applications must be requested by Oct. 28, and county clerks must mail ballots within one business day of receiving an absentee application from an eligible voter.
The deadline to hand-deliver absentee ballots to the county clerk's office is Nov. 2. No person may personally deliver more than two absentee ballots in any election.
Polls on Election Day will be open from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. across West Virginia.
A voter whose registration record lists one address but has since moved to another within the county may update the registration at the polling place and can vote in the precinct of their current residence by using a provisional ballot.
Also, a voter whose legal name has changed may update their registration by filing an affidavit of change of legal name at the polling place on Election Day without using a provisional ballot.
Absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day will be accepted if they have a U.S. Postal Service postmark dated on or before Election Day and are received by the County Clerk's Office before the canvass of votes begins on Nov. 9. Military and overseas voter ballots do not need a postmark but must still be received before the start of canvass to be counted.