Secretary of State Mac Warner announced today that he is leading the effort to promote September as National Voter Registration Month.
Secretary Warner encourages voters to participate by registering to vote or checking their registration status for the upcoming Special Election. He is also asking county clerks, the West Virginia Press Association and the West Virginia Broadcasters Association to help in the effort to encourage civic participation.
“Registering to vote and monitoring any change in registration, such as polling locations changes and status of the registration, will ensure that there is no confusion on election day when exercising your civic duty to vote,” Warner said.
However, he sends an urgent reminder to those registering: the deadline to register to vote for the upcoming road bond amendment is on or before Monday, September 18th. The special election to consider a $1.6 billion road bond amendment is scheduled for Saturday, October 7th. Early voting for the special election begins on Friday, September 22nd and continues (except on Sunday’s) until Wednesday, October 4th.
Warner said his Office will focus on voter registration until the end of the day on September 18th.
“Of course, eligible West Virginia residents can register to vote at any time during the month of September by going online or stopping in to see their county clerk,” Warner said.
“But our primary focus for National Voter Registration Month will be from September 1st to September 18th. We don’t want to confuse voters who register after September 18th and expect to vote in the Special Election. They will not be eligible if they register after the 18th,” Warner said.
Since Warner took office on January 16th, the Elections Division has worked with all 55 county clerks to register 25,707 new voters throughout the state. During the same time period, the clerks have removed 67,483 outdated, deceased and illegible voters from the state’s database of registered voters (attachment).
National Voter Registration Month is a project of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS). The initiative was started by NASS in 2002 to encourage voter participation and increase awareness of federal, state and local elections.
Citizens can either register to vote with their county clerks, at the Division of Motor Vehicles,or online at ovr.sos.wv.gov.
