West Virginia opened in-person early voting Wednesday for the Nov. 3 general election, beginning an 11-day window that runs through Saturday, Oct. 31. The period also marks the first statewide general election in which voters are required to present photo identification under the state’s new voter-ID law.
The Secretary of State’s statewide location directory lists at least one site in every county and identifies main and satellite locations, street addresses, phone numbers and daily hours. Weekday schedules vary by county, while early voting must be available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both Saturdays in the period. Local reporting also confirmed that voting opened across all 55 counties on Oct. 21.
Voters may cast an early ballot at a county courthouse, courthouse annex or designated community site in their county. The official list shows how access differs by area: some counties operate one main location, while others offer several satellite sites. The Secretary of State advises voters to check the directory before traveling because weekday opening and closing times are not uniform.
The identification requirement is a significant change for this general election. In an Oct. 19 voter-registration update, Secretary of State Kris Warner’s office said accepted examples include a West Virginia driver’s license or state ID, an out-of-state driver’s license, a U.S. passport or passport card, a government employee photo ID, qualifying West Virginia student IDs and U.S. military photo identification. State law provides exceptions, and the office directs voters to GoVoteWV for the complete rules rather than relying on a partial list.
Poll workers will ask voters to state their name and address and show identification, according to the state’s election FAQ. If a voter is not found in the poll book or faces an eligibility question, the voter must be offered a provisional ballot. A voter who casts a provisional ballot for lack of ID may present identification to the county clerk before canvassing so the ballot can be counted.
The registration deadline for this election was Oct. 13. The Secretary of State reported 1,210,297 registered voters as of Oct. 19, including 17,872 registrations added since the May primary. Voters can review the contests and measures that apply to them through the office’s online sample-ballot tool, which includes ballots from all 55 counties.
Other deadlines continue during the early-voting period. The state’s general-election calendar sets Oct. 28 as the deadline for county clerks to receive absentee-ballot applications and Oct. 31 as the final day for early voting. Election Day polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., but Election Day voters must use their assigned polling place rather than any early-voting site.
For residents voting before Nov. 3, the practical steps are to confirm a county site and its hours, review the new identification rules, and check a sample ballot before arriving. County clerks remain the local point of contact for site-specific questions or accessibility arrangements.
