Mahanes named new Randolph County Clerk
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ELKINS – The Randolph County Commission filled the vacant and remaining term of the County Clerk position at its most recent meeting held at the Commission Annex.
County Commissioners David Kesling and Kenna Barger unanimously approved Karla Mahanes as the replacement for Brenda Wiseman, who retired from her position on Sept. 1. Wiseman served as the County Clerk for the past 20 years and was a county employee for the last 35 years. Mahanes was sworn in during the meeting by Randolph County Circuit Court Judge David Wilmoth.
“I want to congratulate Karla, she has over 20 years of service with the county and she is well deserved for this position,” Kesling said. “I look forward to working with her for the remaining year and a half.”
Mahanes served as the interim County Clerk since Wiseman’s departure. Her term will run until Jan. 1 of 2028. After being sworn in and approved, Mahanes gave the Commission an update on the upcoming November General Election.
“I have a few dates for the election coming up that are important,” Mahanes said. “Our first poll worker training is on October 6th here in the Commission Annex at 6 p.m.. The window to request an absentee ballot is still open and that is open until October 28th.”
Mahanes said that as of Oct. 1, when the meeting was held, the County Clerk’s Office had sent out 75 absentee ballots. She also gave the deadline for voters wanting to make changes, or for those wishing to register to vote.
“That is more than we did in the primary, we sent out 64 then,” Mahanes said. “The last day for voters to make any changes to their registration or for anybody wanting to register to vote, is October 13th.”
Mahanes said that the County Clerk Office has received the names of two Tygarts Valley High School juniors to serve as poll workers for the upcoming election.
“Hopefully we can utilize them and get some experience under their belts,” Mahanes said of the students.
Mahanes announced that early voting in Randolph County will begin on Oct. 21 and will run through Oct. 31. The early voting locations are the Commission Annex and the Russell Memorial Library in Mill Creek.
Kesling asked Mahanes if all of the poll workers were in place for the November election and if the sample ballots were out.
“As of right now, yes. I do have a list building for Democrats and Republicans and we’ve had some calls come in, which I’m thankful for,” Mahanes said. “We’ve had to make a few swaps out already, but we do have some backups. The sample ballots are out and we have those in the office. They’re posted on social media and it will be in the Inter-Mountain as well.”
The next Randolph County Commission meeting will be held on Oct. 15 at 5:30 p.m.