By JOSEPHINE MENDEZ
The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Despite a recent push from Gov. Jim Justice and supporters of his “Roads to Prosperity” infrastructure plan, only about 2 percent of registered voters in West Virginia have taken part in the special election during the early voting period, according to information from the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office.
As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, 24,864 people out of more than 1.2 million registered voters had cast ballots early for the road bond referendum. Early voting will come to a close Wednesday, Oct. 4. In Cabell County, voters can cast votes from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Cabell County Courthouse.
Polls will open again Saturday, Oct. 7, the day of the special election, from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
As of Tuesday morning, with nine days of early voting already in the books, Cabell County Clerk Phyllis Smith said 840 people had voted, or about 1.6 percent of the total number of registered voters in the county.
“It hasn’t been a great turnout,” she said.
While this is the first election for the newly appointed clerk, chief deputy clerk Teresa Powell, who has worked in the clerk’s office for 40 years, said a low voter turnout in a special election is not abnormal.
“Special elections usually only have one item on the ballot, so a lot of times people just don’t vote,” she said.
Voters are being asked to approve the sale of $1.6 billion in bonds to fund road projects throughout the state. Justice and other state officials say the proposal, if passed, would create tens of thousands of jobs in the next few years and make significant headway on improving and expanding the state’s roads.
The bonds would be paid off over a period of 25 years with money generated by increases to the state’s gasoline tax, Division of Motor Vehicle fees and the state’s privilege tax on vehicle purchases.
Those increases already have been signed into law and will remain regardless of the outcome of the bond referendum.
In addition to a low voter turnout, Smith said the county is struggling to find poll workers to work Saturday, Oct. 7, the day of the special election.
Smith said this problem is not unique to Huntington, but is happening all over the state.
“I guess people just don’t want to work on a Saturday,” she said.
To cover the county’s 71 precincts, Powell said the county needs 355 poll workers because each precinct must be staffed with five poll workers in order to open for voters.
Right now, Powell said the poll workers list is changing almost daily and the county is still in need of alternates.
Powell said poll workers are required to take a class, which they are compensated for as well as their time if they are chosen to work at a precinct.
Those wanting to apply should contact the Cabell County Clerk’s Office at 304-526-8625.
Unlike most recent elections, counties are using paper ballots for this election, which Smith said is a cheaper alternative to the voting machines.
The decision to use paper ballots was made by Justice after soliciting advice from county clerks and the Secretary of State’s Office.
So far, Smith said the paper ballots have not caused a problem for voters or the clerk’s office.
The Secretary of State’s Office will be open Saturday to aid voters and will also update its website with live election results starting at the close of polls at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. To view those results, go to http://services.sos.wv.gov/apps/elections/results/.
Follow reporter Josephine Mendez on Twitter @JozyMendezHD.
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