CHARLESTON — As polls open in West Virginia’s political party primaries today, turnout is coming in lower than 2018’s midterm primary turnout.

According to data from the West Virginia Secretary of State, 58,684 registered voters in the state voted early during a two-week window between April 27 and Saturday, while 3,897 absentee ballots, nearly 60 percent of the 6,574 requested mail-in ballots, had voted by Monday morning.

The total 62,581 early and absentee votes cast as of Monday represented 5 percent of the state’s more than 1.13 million registered voters or 12 percent less than the 71,300 early and absentee votes cast the day before the 2018 primary elections.

Turnout for midterm elections is traditionally lower than primary and general elections that coincide with the presidential elections and races for West Virginia governor, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer, attorney general and agriculture commissioner. Early voting during the 2018 primary early voting period and absentee ballots turned in up to that point were 50 percent higher than the 45,143 early and absentee votes prior to the primary election day in 2014.

Fewer voters also are registered going into today’s election than in 2018. According to the Secretary of State’s Office, the 1.13 million voters registered by the April 19 deadline was a 7.5 percent decrease from the more than 1.22 million registered voters for the 2018 primaries.

The office has attributed the reduction in registered voters to working with county clerks on voter roll clean-up since taking office in 2017. As of the end of 2021, 364,301 abandoned, deceased, duplicate, out of state and convicted felon voter registration files have been canceled.

Polls across the state will open at 6:30 a.m. today and close at 7:30 p.m. County clerks can still accept absentee ballots postmarked by election day until Monday, May 16, and absentee ballots without a postmark can be accepted until Wednesday. Absentee ballots received electronically by eligible military voters, overseas voters and voters with physical disabilities must be turned in by the time polls close today.

This is the first election since the West Virginia Legislature finished its redistricting in October, resulting in new congressional and West Virginia Legislature districts for the state Senate and House of Delegates. This also is the first election where the House is divided into 100 single-member districts.

Voters can go to GoVoteWV.com and use an interactive map to locate polling precincts and

directions.

“These changes may impact where voters vote and which candidates appear on their ballots, so it is very important for voters to make a plan for voting and be prepared to cast their ballot,” said Secretary of State Mac Warner in a statement. “This is the first election since the redistricting process was completed. We all need to be prepared to go vote on election day.”