Early voting period in West Virginia exceeds 2022 midterm numbers

West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner, pictured in July, said Monday that changes in what voters can vote in the Republican primary and tightened photo I.D. requirements did not stop early voting numbers from exceeding 2022 early voting numbers. (File photo)

CHARLESTON – West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner said Monday that early voting numbers for the 2026 midterm elections are up over the 2022 primaries, expressing optimism that more registered voters could mean higher overall turnout by the close of the polls today.

According to information provided by the Secretary of State’s Office Monday from reports by all 55 county clerks, 67,356 West Virginia voted during the 10-date early voting period between April 29 and May 9 for this year’s primary election, representing a more than 8% increase over the 62,283 West Virginians who voted early in the 2022 primary.

In a statement released Monday, Warner said county clerks reported that much of that increase in early voting came in the final two days of the period, citing that as a sign that the deluge of spending by independent expenditure committees on Republican legislative races since March did not dampen voter enthusiasm.

“That tells me that West Virginia voters have confidence in our election process,” Warner said. “Even with the high volume of campaign materials we saw this cycle, voters still want to participate in electing state, county and local leaders.”

According to official numbers released by the Secretary of State’s Office, there are 1,198,036 West Virginians registered to vote in this year’s primary, a 5.5% increase from 1,135,437 registered voters for the May 2022 midterm primary. Warner said more than 50,000 new voters have registered since he took office in January 2025, including more than 17,000 eligible high school students.

The early voting total released Monday represents 5.6% of total state voter registration. Total voter turnout for the 2022 primary was 260,274, or 23% of all registered voters that year, with early voters accounting for 24%.

While unaffiliated voters are able to either cast a nonpartisan ballot or request a Democratic primary ballot in this year’s primary, only registered Republicans can vote in the GOP primary, a decision made by the West Virginia Republican Executive Committee in 2024.

The number of Republican Party voter registrations increased by nearly 7,000, from 512,980 at the end of March to 519,949, with the Democratic Party losing 919 registered voters (327,881 to 326,962) and those registered as no party decreasing by 2,471 (304,390 to 301,919) over the same 22-day period.

“The closed Republican Primary does not appear to have had a negative impact on early voter turnout,” Warner said. “We expect that will be the case with voter turnout on Election Day.”

The polls open at precincts across West Virginia today at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. Voters will need to show a valid photo I.D. to vote. Last year, the law was narrowed to allow only the use of a driver’s license, state-issued ID and other specific forms of photo IDs. Warner said that no counties have reported issues with the new photo I.D. requirement during early voting.

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.

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