Elections in Mon County certified, no major changes

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Canvassing of the Monongalia County 2022 general election is complete and a total of 145 provisional ballots were reviewed, according to commission president Tom Bloom.

The process was completed in about three hours and included no significant changes in any contests. A total of 26,834 ballots were cast for a voter turnout of 43.42-percent.

“We approved 55 provisional ballots, 90 we did not approve and we received and counted 37 absentee ballots,” Bloom said. “We will have 92 ballots we will add to the numbers.”

Monongalia County Clerk Carye Blaney, the top election official in the county, said the entire process was a smooth one thanks to her staff and volunteers.

“I think our election in Monongalia County went very smooth,” Blaney said. “We finished our canvassing process at noon and everything, including canvassing went very well.”

Blaney said getting the new precincts mapped and working with voters was the challenge in this election. The effort from staff and volunteers to make sure each voter made to the correct precinct really saved an enormous amount of frustration at the polls and the time it took to complete the canvassing process.

“There were less than 150 provisional ballots, so our poll workers did a wonderful job on election day and early voting in making sure our voters knew what precinct they were voting in,” Blaney said.

Most of the issues were with people that did not cast a ballot during the primary in May. In many cases, those voters returned to their pre-redistricting polling place in November only to be redirected to the proper polling location.

“The general election was the first time many of those voters saw their new location and new precinct and were made aware the single member House of Delegate Districts went into effect and how that was going to effect their ballot,” Blaney said.

Blaney has long been known for efficient elections, the polls closed Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. and preliminary results were available before 9 p.m. The subsequent canvassing was completed in three hours. When asked if she would ever consider a run to be the top election officer in the state, Blaney said for the time being she plans to stay right here.

“I love being the county clerk here, I love working for the people of this county,” Blaney said. “If I could be a benefit and a help to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office I would certainly look at that at that time.”

Any recount must be requested within 48 hours after canvassing is complete.

A link to the full results is here.