BUCKHANNON – Don’t throw away that postcard! It might ask you to update your voter registration.
The May 14 primary election is four months out, so voters still have time to register to vote, change information on their voter registration or apply for an absentee ballot. Upshur County Clerk Carol Smith said some people will receive a postcard asking if they have moved recently and advising them to update their voter registration.
“The postcards we’re sending out are for people to update any information where we’ve received notice from, let’s say, the post office that they’ve moved, and we send out confirmation notices saying, ‘Hey, we have information that you moved, did you move?’” Smith said. “You will complete and send back the postcard with the new information and say, ‘Yes, I have moved,’ so we can update your precinct or let us know you no longer live in the state.”
The deadline to register to vote or update any voter registration information, including a change of party, is April 23.
“They can come into the office, or we have the link to register on our website,” Smith said. “If they want to just do it electronically, they can go to the Secretary of State’s page or to govotewv.com and from there, as long as they have a valid West Virginia driver’s license or ID card it will allow them to register because it like it brings over their signature from the DMV. If they’re already registered, and they just want to do an address change or a party change, or update some other information, they can do that at govotewv.com as well.”
Voters may submit an absentee ballot application beginning Jan. 1, and the absentee ballot application must be received by the Upshur County clerk’s office by May 8. The county clerk’s office will begin mailing absentee ballots March 29.
“Early voting begins May 1 and concludes on May 11,” Smith said. “It’s our regular hours, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and then on the two Saturdays that encompasses, it’ll be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Those Saturdays are May 4 and May 11.”
The board of education has two seats open during this election cycle, and three that are not up for election. The county is divided into three districts, and at most two people from any one district may serve.
“Sitting on the board of education, you have two people who are in the first district, and you have one person who is in the second district, so people in the first district can file, but they cannot win because there are already two people in that district,” Smith said. “The other two seats that are up can either be one from the second district or two from the third. Even if you have a bunch of second district people running, only one of those second district seats can win because you already have somebody sitting in the second district.”
If multiple people running are from the second district, the person to receive the highest votes will win, and the next seat will have to go to someone from the third district.
As of Tuesday afternoon, no one had filed to run for board of education. The filing deadline is Saturday, Jan. 27.
“That’s not always unusual,” Smith said last Friday. “Even the last time that we had two or three seats up, it was late into the filing period before anyone ran. I know a couple of people have called and inquired or picked up a packet, but we have not received anything back as of today. I can’t say the state takeover of the board has or hasn’t affected the election, to me the interest is pretty much what it always is.”
Smith encouraged community members to reach out to the county clerk’s office if they have any questions about the upcoming election.
“If anyone is in doubt about being registered or if their information is valid, they can call us and we are more than happy to help them, and I think that the Secretary of State has a place you can look to see if you’re registered to vote,” Smith said. “There are a lot of people who prefer to do that stuff online and they don’t want to talk to somebody, but we’re more than happy to answer questions people may have.”
Click here to see the latest filings as of January 23.
County and city offices on the ballot in 2024
- Magistrate (Non-Partisan) (Division 1 & 2)
- County Commission (District 2 or 3) – refer to WV Code §3-10-7(h)
- County Commission-Unexpired 2-yr term (District 2 or 3) – refer to WV Code §3-10-7(h)
- Prosecuting Attorney
- Sheriff
- Assessor
- Surveyor
- Board of Education (Non-Partisan) (2 Seats — At most 0 in 1st; 1 in 2nd; 2 in 3rd)
- Seats up — Daya Masada Wright (2nd) & Tammy Jo Samples (3rd)
- Seats not up — Roy Wager (1st), Jan Craig (1st) & Sherry Dean (2nd)
- Conservation District Supervisor (Non-Partisan)
- Buckhannon City Mayor
- Buckhannon City Council (3 Seats)
- Seats up — Pam Bucklew, CJ Rylands, Jack Reger
- Seats not up — David Thomas, David McCauley
Election Calendar
- Candidate Filing Period – January 8 to midnight Jan. 27, 2024 (County Clerk’s office will be open on Saturday, January 27, from 9 a.m. to noon)
- Drawing for Ballot Order – Feb. 20, 2024 at 9 a.m. (County Clerk’s office)
- Last Day to Register to Vote for Primary – April 23, 2024
- Early Voting – May 1, 2024 to May 11, 2024 (includes two Saturdays May 4 and May 11, from 9a.m. – 5 p.m.)
- Primary Election – May 14, 2024
- General Election – November 5, 2024
