Early voting underway

West Virginia voters have two and a half weeks to cast their early ballots for the May 13 Primary Election. Wednesday was the first day of early voting across the state. In Kanawha County, it started out slow but picked up mid-morning.

Kanawha County Clerk Vera McCormick said early voting is stress-free.

“It’s very easy to vote. We look them up on the computer. They go vote. They can be in and out in two minutes,” she explained.

There are quite a few names on the ballot. There are the local races and depending on what egislative district a voter lives in they could have a lot of choices. Then there’s the national races. All three members of Congress are up for re-election and so is the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Jay Rockefeller who announced last year he wasn’t running for re-election.

McCormick said for those who hate lines at the polls or just finding a parking space at the precinct on election day early voting is the best bet.

“Once they come in and vote early they don’t have to worry about election day. If they’re running late or sick or something, they’ve already got their voting over,” explained the county clerk.

Nutie Miller of Cross Lanes agreed. He showed up Wednesday morning to cast his early vote at Kanawha County Vote’s Registration Office.

“Sometimes when you’re working you don’t have to get up at 6 in the morning and go to the polls in your district,” he said.

McCormick said whether people cast their vote early or on May 13, the day of the election, everyone needs to make it to a voting booth.

“That’s our privilege and our right to vote. And we need to get out there and vote every chance we get,” according to McCormick.

Early voting ends May 10. County clerk offices will be open Monday through Friday and two Saturdays to make it as convenient as possible to vote.