Secretary of State’s Office Conducts Training for Fusion Liaison Officers Ahead of November 5 General Election

​Charleston, W.Va. – As part of the state's broader effort to prepare stakeholders for West Virginia's November 5 General Election, the WV Secretary of State’s Office traveled to Canaan Valley last week to conduct a training for Fusion Liaison Officers (FLOs) at their annual training conference.

The FLO program, which operates through the WV Fusion Center, is a statewide network of agency-selected, private and public sector community representatives that contribute to the integrity of the state’s critical infrastructure. West Virginia currently has over 200 FLOs throughout the state that serve as an extension of the state’s intelligence network. Since elections were designated federally as a component of critical infrastructure by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2017, FLOs have been trained to recognize and encouraged to report suspicious activity on Election Day. FLOs are also trained to identify potential threats before they become serious problems.

WVSOS Assistant Communications Director Landon Palmer presenting at the FLO Conference in Canaan Valley

“Fusion Liaison Officers provide a mechanism to gather and analyze information and share actionable intelligence,” said WV Secretary of State Mac Warner. “Thanks to their efforts, we now have a greater chance to identify improprieties as they occur and respond accordingly to ensure a clean and fair election.”

Just like FLOs, any concerned voter can submit a report to the WV Secretary of State’s Office using our text-to-report technology. Using a smart phone, voters can text “WV” to 45995 to be sent an elections complaint form designed for mobile devices. Citizens are also encouraged to contact the election fraud hotline toll-free at (877) FRAUD-WV.

In response to our state's checkered past of illegal election activities, the West Virginia legislature passed legislation in 2022 that changed the misdemeanor punishment for illegal voting to a felony crime. Under Secretary Wa​r​ner's administration, the state of West Virginia has secured seven successful convictions in cases relating to voter fraud.

For more information on the November 5 General Election, visit our secure website at GoVoteWV.com.