By Lacie Pierson, Charleston Gazette-Mail
April 14, 2020
The timeline of West Virginia’s 2020 Primary Election may have shifted by about a month, but the opportunities and voting processes remain the same.
Secretary of State Mac Warner on Tuesday reiterated that every West Virginian who is registered to vote can expect to receive an application to vote absentee in the mail within the next 10 days.
“If a registered voter doesn’t receive an application in the mail by April 17, we ask that they contact their county clerk or obtain an application online,” Warner said in a news release Wednesday afternoon.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced on April 1 that he was delaying the state’s primary election to June 9, 27 days later than it originally was set to happen. Justice said the goal of delaying the election was to avoid having voters out close to what was expected to be the peak of COVID-19 diagnoses in West Virginia in late April or early May. Last week, models showed West Virginia’s peak was expected to shift to Easter Sunday, but officials asked residents to continue staying indoors.
Even though West Virginians still can vote in-person during the early voting period from May 27 to June 6 or at their polling places on Election Day, Warner has encouraged as many people as possible to vote absentee.
In order to receive an absentee ballot, voters must return their applications to their local county clerks by June 3. That means the county clerk must have the application in their office on that day.