By GREG JORDAN
Bluefield Daily Register
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — West Virginia’s governor is coming Friday to Mercer County for a public meeting to promote the Roads to Prosperity Bond Referendum which is coming up for a vote this coming Saturday.
(AP file photo)
Gov. Jim Justice will hold the town meeting in downtown Bluefield starting 9 a.m. Friday at the Bluefield Area Arts Center, the governor’s office announced Wednesday.
“He will be speaking and answering questions about the Roads to Prosperity Bond Referendum,” according to Director of Communications Butch Antolini. “The public is invited to attend.”
Justice has been promoting the $1.6 billion bond referendum for weeks, saying the bond’s passage could generate funds for roads and other projects which, in turn, could create an estimated 48,000 construction jobs. During a visit to the recent Bluefield Coal Show in Brushfork, he said the referendum was “the single biggest vote West Virginians have ever made in the history of the state. This referendum is the launching pad for the future of West Virginia beyond belief.”
Polls will open Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and voters will go to their regular polling places, Mercer County Clerk Verlin Moye said. People who are unsure about where to vote can call the county voter registration office at 304-487-8338 or 8339. They can also go to www.mercervotes.com. A link there will send residents to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s website; in the section titled Special Election for Constitutional Amendment: October 7, 2017, voters can click on Find My Polling Place to learn where they can vote.
Wednesday was the final day for early voting. Local polls stayed busy as voters took their last opportunity to cast ballots before Saturday’s vote.
“Very good today, very good,” Deputy Clerk Marie Hill replied when asked about the early vote at the Mercer County Courthouse. “We still have a few in line.”
Hill estimated that the final count, which included about 200 voters Wednesday, was approximately 1,155 ballots cast.
“As elections go, that puts us on track to have about a 5,000 vote turnout. I’m hopeful to have better, of course,” Moye said. “Traditionally, we vote early about 25 percent (of the total turnout.)”
In McDowell County, Elections Supervisor Crystal said Wednesday was the busiest early voting day at the McDowell County Clerk’s Office. The final early voting tally was 200 ballots cast.
Early voting was going well Wednesday in Monroe County, too, Chief Deputy Clerk Jeremy Meadows stated. The final tally was 446 votes when the early poll closed that afternoon.
The McDowell County Clerk’s office can be reached at 304-436-8543, and the Monroe County Courthouse can be reached at 304-772-3096.
— Contact Greg Jordan at [email protected]
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