Early voting is already underway. Those who haven’t yet voted will find two questions farther down the ballot that deserve a closer look: a substantially pared-down school excess levy and a proposed amendment to the West Virginia Constitution.
Voters will also face a new requirement to show an approved photo ID when voting in person. This was already in effect for the May primary elections, but historically many more voters turn out for the November general election.
Hardy County Schools is making a second attempt this year to win voter approval for an excess levy, but the proposal bears little resemblance to the broader measure voters rejected in the May primary.
The May levy would have raised approximately $2.56 million annually and $12.8 million over five years. Voters rejected it handily.
The new proposal cuts the amount almost in half, to an estimated $1.3 million annually and approximately $6.5 million over five years. The tax rates have likewise been reduced by roughly half.
For Class II property, which includes owner-occupied residential property, the rate drops from the 15.36 cents per $100 of assessed value proposed in May to 7.58 cents. For Class III and IV property, the rate drops from 30.72 cents to 15.16 cents.
At the rate proposed in May, for a home valued at $200,000, the school levy would have added approximately $184 a year to the tax bill on that home. Under the November proposal, the cost would be approximately $91 a year.
The more significant change, however, may be what the levy would pay for.
The May proposal contained several separate funding categories, including employee recruitment and retention, academic intervention, free admission to regular school athletic events for students and county residents, employee supplemental pay and facility maintenance and improvements.
Those categories have been stripped from the November proposal.
Instead, the new levy focuses on one primary purpose: employment and retention support. The ballot says the money would be used to maintain current and additional positions beyond those funded by the state formula, including qualified teachers and service personnel, to support instruction, school safety, and student services.
The new levy would begin July 1, 2027, and run for five years. The ballot estimates average annual collections of approximately $1.3 million and total collections of about $6.5 million over the five years.
Ballots will also include Amendment No. 1, the “Citizenship Requirement to Vote in West Virginia Elections Amendment.”
The amendment would change the state Constitution to say that only people who are both citizens of the United States and citizens of West Virginia are entitled to vote in elections held in the state.
What the ballot wording does not make clear is that U.S. citizenship is already required under West Virginia law to vote. State law says a person may not vote in a federal, state, county, municipal or special election unless that person is, among other things, a United States citizen.
Federal law also prohibits noncitizens from voting in elections involving federal offices, although some have pointed out that law has recently become the subject of a significant court challenge.
A vote “FOR” the amendment would place an explicit citizenship requirement in the state Constitution, where it could not be changed by a future Legislature simply amending state law. An “AGAINST” vote would leave the Constitution unchanged while the existing citizenship requirement remains in effect.
Another change may be more immediately important when voters arrive at the polls.
West Virginia now requires voters casting ballots in person to present an approved form of photo identification, a change from a broader list of identification rules used in previous elections.
Accepted identification includes a West Virginia driver’s license or state identification card, a driver’s license from another state, U.S. passport or passport card, qualifying government employee identification, certain student IDs, military identification, and a voter registration card containing a photograph.
At the top of the ballot, Republican U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito faces Democrat Rachel Fetty Anderson and Constitution Party candidate S. Marshall Wilson. Republican U.S. Rep. Riley Moore faces Democrat Ace Parsi in the 2nd Congressional District.
In the 14th State Senate District, Republican Jay Taylor faces Democrat Jason Armentrout. The 86th District House of Delegates race pits Republican Steven Schetrom of Baker against Democrat Betsy Orndoff-Sayers of Wardensville.
Four candidates are seeking the Hardy County Commission seat: Republican Michael Phillips, Democrat Shawna Crites, Independent Doug Mongold and Hunter Flinn, who is running with no party affiliation.
Republicans Loretta Humbertson, for county clerk, and Robert “Booter” Ryan, for prosecuting attorney, appear without Democratic opponents in races to fill unexpired terms.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting began Wednesday, Oct. 21, and continues through Saturday, Oct. 31.
