West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner Releases Numbers for Early Voting for Primary Election
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on May 11, 2026
The last two days of West Virginia's early voting period saw a substantial increase in the number of voters participating in the state's Primary Election. That two-day participation pushed the overall turnout by early voters up more than 8% over the last midterm Primary Election held in May of 2022.
According to West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner, as of Monday morning, county clerks reported that a total of 67,356 West Virginia voters cast ballots during the early voting period from Wednesday, April 29, through Saturday, May 9. That's more than 8% higher than the early voter turnout in the state's Primary Election in 2022 that saw 62,283 early voters. Warner said that county clerks throughout the state have reported a substantial increase in voter interest over the last two days of early voting.
"That tells me that West Virginia voters have confidence in our election process," said Warner. "Even with the high volume of campaign materials we saw this cycle, voters still want to participate in electing state, county, and local leaders."
Secretary Warner credited the following circumstances and activities for the increase in voter confidence leading to higher early voter participation:
The dedicated work of the state's 55 county clerks, their elections staff, and the WVSOS Elections Division to keep voter registration lists up to date and accurate
The registration of 50,473 new voters since Secretary Warner took office in January 2025, which includes more than 17,000 eligible high school students
Secretary Warner personally visited 38 high schools in the last 16 months, and the WVSOS Field Team has visited a total of 57 high schools, promoting voter education, registration, and the importance of participation
The comprehensive and coordinated public education campaign over the last 14 months with county clerks, political parties, candidates, and the media to educate the general public on the state's new "Photo ID to Vote" law
Having 2,717 state, county, and municipal candidates participating in the Primary Election, all of whom have been educating their supporters on the election calendar
Given the higher turnout, Secretary Warner said the state's new "Photo ID to Vote" did not have a negative impact on early voting participation rate. He is optimistic that it will remain the same for Election Day.
The May 12th Primary Election will be the first West Virginia election in 25 years where only registered Republicans can vote a Republican Party ballot. In 2025, the 154-member WV Republican State Executive Committee voted to close their Primary Election to unaffiliated voters. Unaffiliated voters may choose a nonpartisan race ballot or Democratic Party ballot at the polls by giving their preference to the poll workers.
According to Secretary Warner, his office worked with the county clerks and the state's newspaper, TV, radio, and online media outlets to educate the public on the change. The Republican Party, the Democratic Party, the candidates, and political action committees throughout the state also helped educate voters on the change.
"The closed Republican Primary does not appear to have had a negative impact on early voter turnout," said Secretary Warner. "We expect that will be the case with voter turnout on election day."
