State encourages voters to register for general election

Sep. 20—Just under a month remains for West Virginians to register to vote in the state's general election on Nov. 9.

To help ensure that all eligible voters are registered, the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office, in partnership with county clerks' offices across the state, is hosting dozens of voter registration events throughout September and into October.

This push is part of National Voter Registration Month, which has been observed every September for the past 20 years.

As part of this push, West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner said he is working to make sure West Virginia's youngest voters are given opportunities to register to vote as well as learn about the importance of voting.

Here in Beckley, the Secretary of State's Office and the Raleigh County Clerk's Office are hosting an assembly for seniors Tuesday morning at Woodrow Wilson High School.

"West Virginia has a unique history with 18-year-olds being able to vote," Warner said. "Our own Sen. Jennings Randolph was the father of the 26th Amendment that lowered the voting age from 21 to 18."

He added that some of West Virginia's youngest voters have also made their way into the history books.

In 2013, 18-year-old Saira Blair was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates as the youngest legislator in U.S. history, after initially running when she was only 17.

Not long after, in 2018, 19-year-old Caleb Hanna was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates as the youngest Black legislator in U.S. history.

"That's quite the legacy," Warner said. "And when you share that with high school students, they can look in the mirror and say, 'Saira did it at 17, 18. Caleb did it at 19' — that's about their age, and then all of a sudden, they feel, well, 'If they can do it, I can do it.' And that's what we want. We want to pull people into our governmental system, not just voting, but perhaps running for office."

Tuesday is also National Voter Registration Day.

For high school students looking to vote, Warner said one of the main things to keep in mind is that, although the voting age is 18, 17-year-olds can register to vote as long as they turn 18 prior to the general election.

He added that another topic high school students typically have questions about is picking a party.

"I think at the younger ages, sometimes it's which party do I want to affiliate with, and what's the difference between the independent or the nonaffiliated voter versus registering with a party," Warner said. "So it gives us an opportunity to explain. The main emphasis is on the primary election. If you're a Republican, you get a Republican ballot. If you're Democrat, you get a Democrat ballot. If you're unaffiliated, you don't get to vote on one of those major party people or platforms unless you specifically ask for it. So there's an education process that needs to occur."

Since being elected in 2017, Warner's administration has registered 297,000 new voters, including 85,600 high school students, according to information from his office.

While the upcoming general election does not have presidential candidates on the ballot, which typically means fewer voters will head to the polls come November, Warner said this is when it is even more important to inform and register voters.

"What I emphasize is, actually their vote has more impact now," he said. "If you have a low voter turnout, then every single one of those votes is going to have more impact proportionately. We always talk about every vote counts, and in fact, in the primary, we had 43 races in the state of West Virginia that were decided by 10 votes or less."

Warner said he is also encouraging people not only to register to vote but to consider becoming poll workers so they can get an inside look at how elections are run and feel confident in the outcome.

He added that the election is also a lot closer than people realize.

"Actually, the first ballots start going out this Friday to our military and overseas citizens," he said. "So this election is pretty much upon us. The first votes are going to be cast here in just a few days when those absentee ballots reach their recipients."

For anyone with questions about who will be on the ballot, polling locations, how to register to vote and more, Warner said people should head to govotewv.com.

Warner said the website also contains information about the four constitutional amendments that will be on the general election ballot.

The voter registration deadline for the upcoming election is Oct. 18.

The deadline to submit requests for absentee ballots is Nov. 2.

Upcoming Voter Registration Events

Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 9:15 a.m. at New Life Christian Academy in Summersville

Wednesday, Sept. 21, from noon to 2 p.m. at the New River Community and Technical College Fall 2022 Community Fair in Lewisburg

Thursday, Sept. 22, at 9 a.m. at Greenbrier East High School

Thursday, Sept. 22, from noon to 2 p.m. at the New River Community and Technical College Fall 2022 Community Fair in Beckley

Monday, Sept. 26, at 8 a.m. at Greenbrier West High School

Thursday, Sept. 29, at 9 a.m. at Hinton Area Elementary School

Friday, Sept. 30, at 8 a.m. at Oak Hill High School

Wednesday, Oct. 5, at 10:30 a.m. at Princeton High School

Tuesday, Oct. 11, from 8:15 to 9 a.m. at Victory Baptist Academy in Beckley