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CHARLESTON - Early voting turnout combined with nearly three-quarters of requested absentee ballots being cast for the 2026 midterm general elections have exceeded early voting totals and total absentee ballots cast in the 2022 midterm elections in West Virginia.
According to data released by the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office Monday afternoon, 162,349 ballots were cast during the early voting period that began Oct. 19 through 5:30 p.m. Saturday, excluding Sundays. County clerks have already processed 7,001 absentee ballots to date, or nearly 72% of the 9,735 absentee ballots requested for the 2026 midterms.
Combined, 169,350 early and absentee votes have been cast for 2026 midterm primary to date, or 14% of West Virginia's 1.21 million registered voters and 17.2% more than the early voting total and total absentee ballots cast in the November 2022 midterm elections.
By comparison, 131,404 West Virginians early voted in the 2022 midterm general election with 13,060 total absentee ballots cast for a total of 144,464 early and absentee voters, or a turnout of 12.5% of the state’s 1.15 million registered voters that year.
In an interview Monday, Secretary of State Kris Warner praised the good weather over the last two weeks that likely contributed to good early voting turnout. He also said voters were likely motivated by multiple issues, including the war with Iran, data centers, cost of living and concerns over public schools.
"I think there’s a lot, obviously, going on in the economy right now, whether it’s the world situation or right here at home with public schools and a number of students dropping due to the Hope Scholarship. I think the voters are tuned in," Warner said. "We’ve done everything we can to make it as easy as possible to register to vote and hopefully hard to cheat ... on top of 10 days straight of sunshine. I don’t think hurts a thing to be able to have the weather for folks to say, 'hey, I’m going to go vote while the weather’s good.'”
According to the data, 12,668 more registered Republicans have early voted or cast absentee ballot to date than in 2022. GOP voters cast 70,517 early votes and absentee ballots for the 2026 midterm versus 58,849 Republicans who voted early or cast absentee ballots in 2022. More than 13% of the 527,532 registered Republicans have voted to date.
"The early voting numbers are encouraging and show that Republicans have an early lead with an expected large lead on election day as we always do," said Del. Joshua Holstein, R-Boone, chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party. "We continue to believe the people of West Virginia will send Conservative voices to represent them at all levels of government and look forward to tomorrow's results."
As for registered Democratic voters, 6,782 more Democratic voters have cast early votes or sent in absentee ballots this year versus 2022, with 63,426 Democratic votes to date compared to 56,644 early votes/absentee ballots cast in the 2022 general election. More than 19% of the Democratic Party's 326,697 registered voters have cast ballots to date.
Del. Mike Pushkin, the chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party, is hoping that the predicted blue wave that is expected to sweep multiple statehouses and flip control of the U.S. House of Representatives and possibly the U.S. Senate to Democratic majority control will splash on West Virginia and add new Democrats to the Legislature.
"Many voters are asking the same questions Ronald Reagan famously asked 46 years ago: Are we better off than we were four years ago? Or two years ago when Gov. Morrisey took office," said Pushkin, D-Kanawha. "Can we buy as much at the store as we used to? Can we find good-paying jobs? Are we ok with losing our community schools? Are we ok with unregulated AI data centers in our backyards? Early turnout suggests they’re answering those questions with a resounding 'no,' and they're showing up in record numbers to vote for change."
The third largest voting block, unaffiliated voters, also increased their number of early/absentee votes by 5,811 compared to 2022, with 28,509 votes to date for the 2026 midterm compared to 22,698 votes four years ago. More than 9% of the 307,373 registered unaffiliated voters have cast ballots so far. Also, 6,898 voters registered with various third parties have cast early votes and absentee ballots as of Monday compared to 7,273 who did so in 2022.
The polls open at 6:30 p.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. today at precincts across all 55 counties. This is the first general election where a photo I.D. is required to vote. Previously, multiple forms of photo and non-photo I.D. were allowed, but the Legislature voted in 2025 to limit I.D. requirements to photo-only. Warner said county clerks have encountered no issues the new voter I.D. law.
"We’ve been out probably to seven or 10 different counties at early voting centers on Saturday ... There have been no complaints whatsoever," Warner said. "This is the first general election, and some people don’t vote in primary elections; they only vote in general elections ... So, we’re prepped and ready to go as to everything that we can possibly do to make sure that people know, bring a photo I.D."
Allowable former of photo I.D. (with exceptions) include a West Virginia driver’s license or I.D. card; a photo I.D. issued by another state; a U.S. passport or passport card; a local, state, or federal government I.D.; a student I.D. issued by a high school or college/university; a U.S. military I.D., a photo voter registration card issued by a county clerk; and a DMV-issued I.D. without a photo for residents who swear/affirm they are part of a religious community that prohibits them from being photographed.
Voter turnout in the May primary earlier this year was 21%, with 252,008 ballots cast out of more than 1.19 million voters who were registered at that time. Total voter turnout in the 2022 general midterm election was nearly 43% of the 1.15 million registered voters that year. Warner said he wasn't prepared to make a prediction on overall turnout for this year's midterm election, but he feels confident that voters will make their voices heard.
"I don’t know what it’s going to be on Tuesday. It’s all up to the people now, though, at this point," Warner said. "The parties have done everything they can do. The candidates have done everything they can do. The political action committees have done everything they can do. It’s time for the voters to speak."
Voters can visit GoVoteWV.com, the Secretary of State’s voter information website, to find early voting locations, review sample ballots, track absentee ballots, and see unofficial election results when polls close.