Early voting begins April 29
By: Amelia Ferrell Knisely for West Virginia Watch
There are notable changes for West Virginia voters in the upcoming May primary election, including new voter identification rules and a closed Republican primary.
West Virginians will have the opportunity to vote for primary candidates in Congressional races and multiple state Senate and Houses races. Elections for the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals will be on the ballot, as well.
“Your vote matters even more than it does in the presidential election, because you’re going to be, you could be a deciding vote. I mean, what we saw in 2022, and a lot of our state legislative races, a few of these came down to less than 10 votes,” said Josh Holstein, chair of the West Virginia Republican Party. He also serves in the House of Delegates.
Early voting runs April 29 through May 9. Primary Election Day is May 12.
“You need to plan your vote,” said Judy Ball, co-president of the League of Women Voters of West Virginia. “We always encourage people to take advantage of early voting.”
Lawmakers changed the state’s voter ID requirements in 2025 as part of a GOP push to preserve “elections integrity.”
“This commonsense legislation secures West Virginia’s elections and instills faith in the voting process,” Gov. Patrick Morrisey said when signing the legislation.
This is the first statewide election where 11 formerly accepted identification options have been eliminated. Medicaid cards and utility bills are among the options that are no longer valid at polling places.
Voters must have a photo ID like a driver’s license, passport or a resident identification card to vote in-person.
Ball said that the League of Women Voters in West Virginia has been focused on educating people about the ID requirements change ahead of the primary election.
“It’s like our Legislature does its absolute best to make voting in West Virginia complicated,” she said. “We remind people that if they don’t have these IDs, they need to get them as quickly as possible.”
“The population demographics in West Virginia are such that older people and disabled people, may be the ones that are going to be most adversely affected by this change in the law, so we try to make that clear and that there is an option to get a photo ID from the county clerk’s office, but you need to act in advance,” Ball continued.
Any identification cards requested from a county clerk’s office will be given free of charge.
Anyone who is unable to provide a valid photo ID at the ballot box will still be able to cast a provisional ballot after signing an affidavit confirming their identity. Once election officials verify their identity, the provisional ballot should be counted as long as the person is an eligible voter.
Democratic lawmakers voted against the bill with the voter ID changes while it was moving through the Legislature in 2025, arguing that it was an unnecessary barrier in a state with low voter turnout.
“Look, whenever Republicans make changes to election laws, the focus is almost always the same — how to make voting harder and less convenient for people. They’re not trying to get more West Virginians to participate in our democracy; they’re trying to get fewer people to vote, because that’s what helps them hold onto power,” said state Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin, who also serves in the House of Delegates.
Closed GOP primary
For the first time since the mid-1980s, the West Virginia Republican Party has closed its primary, meaning only voters registered as Republican can participate in its primary election.
“Independents in the state, if they wish to choose a Republican ballot, they must be registered Republican before April 21 which is the deadline,” Holstein said. “We’ve made an extensive effort, particularly over the last two months, to reach out to voters directly from the state party through mail, digital efforts and direct voter outreach.”
The West Virginia Republican Executive Committee voted to close the Republican primary to unaffiliated voters beginning in 2026. The decision was made prior to Holstein being named party chair.
Holstein noted that about two-thirds of West Virginia voters who participate in the primary election are registered as unaffiliated and request a Republican ballot, according to data from the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office.
“We believe that if we reach out to enough folks, we will have many of those come over, because they’re already voted in our primaries anyways,” Holstein said.
Republican voter registrations in West Virginia have increased by 3,842 voters from the end of February to the end of March, according to reporting by the Parkersburg News and Sentinel.
Unaffiliated voter registrations in the state decreased by 1,022 in that same time frame.
“I’m encouraged by that,” Holstein said.
Pushkin called the closed GOP primary another barrier for West Virginia voters.
“None of that is about encouraging participation in the democratic process — it’s about preserving power, just like the gerrymandering of legislative districts we’ve already seen,” he said. “They wrap it all in rhetoric about ‘election integrity’ and ‘voter fraud,’ but they never produce evidence of any widespread fraud that would justify these kinds of restrictions.
“West Virginians deserve a system that encourages participation, not one that puts up more barriers. We should be making it easier to vote, not harder.”
April 21 is the last day to register to vote or change party affiliation.
An absentee ballot must be requested by May 6.
Photo identifications accepted at polling places on primary election day:
A valid West Virginia driver’s license or valid West Virginia identification card issued by the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles.
A valid driver’s license issued by a state other than the state of West Virginia.
A valid United States passport or passport card.
A valid employee identification card with a photograph of the eligible voter issued by the United States government or of the state of West Virginia, or by any county, municipality, board, authority, or other political subdivision of West Virginia.
A valid student identification card with a photograph of the eligible voter issued by an institution of higher education in West Virginia by a West Virginia high school.
A valid military identification card issued by the United States with a photograph of the person desiring to vote.
A valid voter registration card that includes the voter’s photograph issued by a county clerk in the state of West Virginia or the Secretary of State.
West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.