Absentee ballots will begin arriving as early as Friday

Charleston, W. Va. – According to WV Secretary of State Mac Warner, voting for the May 14 Primary Election officially starts on Friday, March 29th.

Qualified voters who have applied for an absentee-by-mail ballot will start seeing those arrive at the address provided on the application as early as Friday.

For active duty military on deployment, voters living overseas, and those who are stateside living with a physical disability that prevents them from in-person voting and absentee voting without assistance, Friday is also the first day county clerks will begin providing them the means to participate via electronic means prescribed by law. To date, nearly 1,200 voters have applied for an absentee ballot.

“West Virginia law permits absentee-by-mail voting for voters who are not able to vote in person during early voting or on Election Day," said Secretary of State Mac Warner. "The excuse-based alternative to in-person voting is available to registered voters for causes such as illness, disability, hospitalization, military deployment, and work-related or personal travel.”

"In West Virginia, we have more options for participating than any state in the country," Warner said. "We want voters to vote!"

To learn more about absentee ballot voting in West Virginia, registered voters can visit GoVoteWV.com - a secure website hosted by the WV Secretary of State's Office.