HUNTINGTON — A steady stream of voters made their way to the polls today for the West Virginia primary election, both to improve their country and communities and to exercise their American rights, they said.
There was a line when the polls opened at 6:30 a.m. in the Fairfield community, said Liynaa Burrell, a Marshall student and poll worker at the A.D. Lewis Community Center.
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Voting information for today’s primary
POLLS: Polling hours for West Virginia were 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
VOTER FRAUD: To report election fraud, call the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office’s Election Fraud Hotline at (877) FRAUD-WV. To file a complaint, visit www.wvsos.com/elections/voters/voterhelp.htm and fill out the provided form. MORE INFO: Check our Election 2008 site, click here.
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Ernestine Parker was one who voted at the center Tuesday with her husband, not because it was a high-interest election but simply to make a difference, she said.
“We vote all the time for the progress of our community and the whole world — for things to be better,” she said.
Voters seemed pretty “enthused and interested” about this primary election, said Freda Crockett, a poll worker at Vinson Middle School in Wayne County.
“We’ve been steady since we opened at 6:30 a.m.,” she said.
“I think it’s the American dream to vote,” said Beulah “Boots” Blain of Westmoreland. “If you don’t vote, you have no dreams to build on and nothing to look forward to. Whether it goes your way or not, it’s something you have.”
Before Tuesday, about 3,065 voters turned out for early voting, which is very low, said Cabell County Clerk Karen Cole.
“Apparently, it was that way all over the state,” she said. “I don’t know if gas prices have anything to do with it, if people don’t want to travel down here, or the presidential race has anything to do with it. Maybe people wanted to see how the elections took place (in other states) between the two Democratic candidates.”
Also, because there are a lot of Republican candidates who are uncontested in the primary, perhaps fewer Republicans turned out, Cole said.
Polls remain open until 7:30 p.m. today.
Cabell County polls were up and running after election officials called in some replacements early this morning, Cole said. One precinct was late opening, and others had problems with machines, but all seemed to be running smoothly at about 11 a.m., she said.
For information about local candidates, sample ballots or to find your precinct, go to The Herald-Dispatch online elections page by clicking here: crow.herald-dispatch.com/elections/
Later tonight after the polls close, check the site for results as they come in from Herald-Dispatch reporters in Wayne, Cabell and Putnam counties and The Associated Press.
Read Wednesday's Herald-Dispatch and www.herald-dispatch.com for in-depth coverage of all local races.
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