MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — It is municipal election season in the city of Morgantown.
Election day in Morgantown is Tuesday, April 29 and the polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The application deadline for an absentee ballot is April 23, 2025 and the last day to register to vote is April 7,2025.
City Clerk Christine Wade manages the election process for the city and said elections in Wards 2, 4, and 6 will be on the ballot. The candidate filing period is open until Feb. 10, according to Wade.
“Jodie Hollingshead has turned in her certificate of announcement, she’s in Ward 2,” Wade said. ” Deputy Mayor Selin has turned in hers, she in Ward 4 and there are two in Ward 6 Mark Downs and Stephanie Hunt.”
Residents interested in running for office can pick up the information they’ll need inside Morgantown City Hall at 389 Spruce Street from Monday through Thursday between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
“We have a packet ready for anyone interested in running for council,” Wade said. ” We’ll provide a packet with all of the dates, all of the deadlines, and all of the information they need to know.”
A requirement in the process is each candidate must get the signatures of 75 registered voters in their ward. The signatures are reviewed for accuracy by the Clerk’s office and must be submitted with other filing materials.
“We also give them their nominating petitions,” Wade said. ” We can’t forget that all of our candidates must obtain the signature from 75 registered voters in their ward and they must be turned in by February 10.”
Wade didn’t have the exact figure but said the pay for poll workers has been increased this year. She said they hope to get a new influx of poll worker and possibly get younger people involved n an effort to increase voter participation.
“Maybe get some folks who have done it in the past and some new people too,” Wade said. “We need to get the young people into learning what the election process is all about.”
Wade and her staff plan a drive-thru voter registration event at the Morgantown Farmers Market on Spruce Street April 7. The process is made official following canvassing that is planned for Monday, May 5, 2025.
“In the past it’s been about $40,000 and that’s everything,” Wade said. “Hiring the election support team, ballots, poll workers that’s an approximate figure.”