Primary Election
May 8, 2012
Primary Election Voter Registration Deadline
April 17, 2012
General Election
November 6, 2012
General Election Voter Registration Deadline
October 16, 2012
Voter Registration and Eligibility
Must register at least 21 days before the election in which you wish to vote.
Can change or select party affiliation no later than 21 days before the election.
QUALIFICATIONS
To register to vote in the State of West Virginia, an individual must meet the following qualifications:
- Be a United States citizen
- Be a Resident of West Virginia and the county where you register
- Be at least 17 years old and 18 before the next general election
- Not currently under conviction for a felony, including probation or parole, or a court ruling of mental incompetence. (Voting rights are restored when the term of conviction ends.)
OBTAINING A VOTER REGISTRATION FORM
Can register to vote in person or obtain a mail-in application at:
- The county clerk's office at your county courthouse (contact information)
- Driver license offices
- Public assistance agencies
- Agencies which serve people with disabilities
- Marriage license offices (at county clerk's offices)
- Military recruiting offices
Obtain a mail-in registration form online here.
WEST VIRGINIA ABSENTEE BALLOTS
Who Can Absentee Vote in West Virginia?
Voters who will be unable to vote in person on Election Day because of travel/work, Ill health/disability, military/overseas, school, or out of personal convenience are eligible either to vote early in-person or to vote absentee by mail. More details are available here.
"No Excuse" voting is available at the county clerk's office in the days before the election. Voting is available during regular business hours and hours on some Saturday. Contact your county clerk's office(contact information) for more information.
How Can I Acquire an Absentee Ballot?
Go to the County Clerk's Office and ask to vote early in-person. You will then vote as you would on Election Day, in a voting booth just as at the precinct. If a paper or punch card ballot is used, your voted ballot will be sealed in an envelope and placed in the ballot box.
Your application to vote by mail must be received no later than the 6th day before the election. You may apply as early as eight weeks before the election (or January 2 for military or overseas voters), but the ballots are not ready for mailing to you until six weeks before the election.
Request an application by telephone, fax or e-mail from your county clerk(contact information).
Obtain an application for an absentee ballot online here.
Additional Information for Overseas Voters
Emergency Absentee Ballot
A ballot can be brought to you at the hospital or nursing facility if you have been admitted because of an emergency during the last week before the election. The service is available at all hospitals within your home county. Your county may adopt a policy to extend this service to other hospitals in adjacent counties or within 30 miles from the county seat. Check with the County Clerk to determine what hospitals are served.
The voter's emergency admission must have occurred no earlier than the 7th day before the election. The ballot must be requested no later than noon of Election Day.
A family member may request the emergency absentee voting service by telephone. The County Clerk will schedule a team of emergency absentee voting commissioners to go to the voter at the hospital. The team takes the application and the ballot and returns the voted ballot to the County Clerk.
How do I Return the Absentee Ballot and What is the Deadline?
If returned by hand, ballots must be received in the appropriate office the day before the election. Ballots returned by mail must either be received at the appropriate office by the day after the election or have postmarks or shipping dates by Election Day. Properly postmarked ballots will be accepted until the start of the canvass, approximately a week after Election Day.
Source of information:
Elections Division
West Virginia Secretary of State
Building 1, Suite 157-K
1900 Kanawha Boulevard
Charleston, WV 25305-0770
Phone: 304-558-6000
Fax: 304-558-0900
Toll-Free: (866) SOS-VOTE
http://www.wvsos.com/elections/main.htm
PROTECT YOUR SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS
BY EXERCISING YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE!