Warner Alerts West Virginia Residents of Out-of-State Voter Registration Solicitations

Charleston, W.Va. — Secretary of State Mac Warner is issuing a public notice to West Virginia residents of solicitations to register to vote in locations where they do not reside. On Wednesday, a WV resident notified the Secretary of State's Office they had been solicited by an out-of-state organization to register to vote in a state in which they had never lived.

WV residents should be aware run-off elections are still pending in other states. The astute citizen’s report on Wednesday makes it clear that organizations outside West Virginia are attempting to contact residents in West Virginia in an effort to questionably obtain participation in run-off elections in another state. Secretary Warner urges people to seek advice on the legality of changing their registration to another state and to report the receipt of the correspondence and solicitations to the Secretary of State’s Office as these efforts may violate West Virginia and other states’ election laws.

“I hope this was just an isolated incident and not the tip of the iceberg to a larger problem. The only way we will know is if citizens report such solicitations,” Secretary Warner said. “I strongly caution people who receive a solicitation to participate in another state’s elections to not engage in such activity. Rather, please report the contact to my office immediately so that our Election Fraud Task Force can quickly investigate the situation.”

Regarding West Virginia’s processes to uphold election laws and to investigate irregularities, Secretary Warner said, “West Virginia maintained the public’s confidence in our 2020 election, held during the pandemic nonetheless. Working closely with local election officials within existing state laws, we were able to offer West Virginia voters secure options to vote safely, accurately and free of interference. West Virginia will continue to hold ourselves to that same standard for all elections moving forward in 2021 and beyond.”

To report election fraud of any kind, please call the WV Secretary of State's Office toll-free at 1-877-FRAUD-WV.