MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — 364 voters, mostly over the age of 65, have cast their ballots early as of 9 a.m. Monday morning in the Roads to Prosperity Amendment.
There won’t be any reason to start counting turnout yet, but Monongalia County Clerk Carye Blaney said the expectations are low.
“In West Virginia, we’ve had quite a few elections really since 2010 when we had the special election for United States Senate and Governor in 2011,” she said. “And I do think that people suffer from voter fatigue.”
The fatigue may be particularly evident after strong turnout in West Virginia’s Presidential and Gubernatorial elections last November. Though, Blaney said, that won’t be the only reason turnout is depressed.
“I think a Saturday election, especially for our particular county, was difficult this year,” Blaney said. “Our locations — many of them were already booked for other functions.”
Blaney added that the County has been looking for alternatives for months — and were fortunate to find them when you consider that the election is the same weekend as a WVU football game, two high school homecomings, and coincides with scheduled construction on a number of polling places. The biggest impact is expected to be at University High and Morgantown High.
“At both of those locations, the cafeterias are going to be where they are holding their homecoming dances, and that’s a significant number of voters,” she said.
Morgantown High voters will now vote in the school’s auditorium. University High voters will move to a hallway near the main office.
“These are temporary locations changes just because we couldn’t use those facilities on that Saturday,” Blaney said.
In addition to changes at the high school:
- Precinct 23 and 25 voters will move from St. Mary’s Church, which is under construction, to Star City Town Hall on Election Day
- Precinct 44 and 48 voters will move from Restoration Church International or Morgantown Faith Center to the Firehouse Events Center in Osage
- Precinct 52 voters will move from Mason Dixon Park to Core Community Center
- Precinct 59 voters will move from Smithtown School to the Election Center at Mountaineer Mall
- Precinct 79 and 82 voters will move from Cheat Lake Volunteer Fire Department to Calvary United Methodist Church
“We have five different voting locations that are going to temporary changes for this election,” Blaney said.
Nearly 1,223,000 West Virginians are eligible to vote in the October 7 election. Early voting will continue through October 4.