by Kate Shunney
As West Virginia’s primary election takes place on Tuesday, May 10, fewer Morgan County residents will be seeking out a ballot.
A state report of voter registration figures from the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office indicates that as of the end of March, Morgan County’s voter registration stood at 12,454 voters.
At the time of the 2020 general election, Morgan County had 14,395 registered voters.
The two-year drop of 1,913 voters from the election rolls hit both the Republican and Democratic parties.
Between the November 2020 election and this year’s primary, the number of registered Democrats dropped from 2,747 to 2,057. Republican rolls also fell, from 6,679 to 6,194. No party voters also faded in number, from 4,510 in 2020 to 3,815 this year.
As of March 31, 2022, Morgan County’s voters continued to count largely conservative. As in previous years, however, there was a substantial number of voters who chose either no party affiliation or a third party for their registration. Those registrations outnumber Democrats in Morgan County.
At the end of March, there were 3,815 county voters registered with no party affiliation, 107 as members of the Libertarian party, 53 as members of the Mountain party and 228 as members of an “other” party.
During West Virginia’s primary, voters will be given a ballot of their party to cast votes. The majority of races are on the GOP ballot, which can be voted by registered Republicans and those who have no party affiliation. Democrats can’t request a Republican ballot in the primary, which means local races in Morgan County will be decided by those able to vote a GOP ballot.
Non-partisan races for school board and the school levy will appear on both party ballots.
The Secretary of State’s office on Monday couldn’t supply more current voter registration numbers, even though residents could register to vote and change their party affiliations up through April 19. The April final registration numbers were not available from or to the County Clerk’s office, either, on Monday.
