Letter to the Editor

To cut to the chase, there is an old adage: “Elections are won by those who show up to vote”. 2026 is an election year. May 12th is election day. The state Republican party has chosen to have a closed primary, while the Democratic party will leave their primary ballets open for anyone who chooses to select from their slate of candidates. Last year, the state legislature added voter identification requirements. Thus, before showing up at your polling station, be sure that you have checked off a few boxes so that your vote will count.

First, be sure that your voter registration is up to date on the Secretary of State’s roles. The National Association of Secretaries of State website (nass.org) allows you to type in your name and birth date. It will link to the West Virginia Secretary of State website to verify that you are registered and what party you have chosen. You can also go directly to sos.wv.gov, click on Elections, then GoVoteWV.com, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on link to check your registration data.