KINGWOOD — No one will be allowed inside the Preston County courthouse annex on election night except workers, and results will only be posted online and on the door.
Blame the coronavirus, County Administrator Kathy Mace told the county commission. Because of limits imposed on the number of people who can be in the square footage, it was decided to keep out the public, press and candidates.
Traditionally candidates, media and interested voters who gather at the annex are given photocopies of precinct results as they come in.
That too will change, with cumulative results of a batch of precincts and final results posted on the county commission website, prestoncountywv.gov. Final results will also be posted on the doors at the annex.
“The election night process where the poll workers bring the results back to the county commission room [behind the annex] remains the same,” Preston County Clerk Linda Huggins said. “We will gather their material that has the results on it. We’ll bring it into the county clerk’s office and the girls will tabulate those results on the computer.”
The Republican and Democratic parties will have observers watching the ballots being taken by county workers from poll workers and carried inside to be tallied.
The West Virginia Secretary of State’s office said that State Code § 7-1-3kk gives commissions authority “to enact ordinances, issue orders and take other appropriate and necessary actions for the elimination of hazards to public health and safety ….”
There will be a live feed camera in the clerk’s office, which will go up on the commission’s Facebook page. It will be video only; no audio. Anyone who calls the office to request results will be referred to the county commission, whose number is 304-329-1805.
Wednesday was the final day for voters to request an absentee ballot be mailed out. As of midday Wednesday 5,178 absentee ballots had been mailed out in Preston. Of those, 3,926 had been returned. The county has a total of 19,466 registered voters.
Early voting is also underway. This year that is at the Corner Mall of the Kingwood Plaza. Early voting will continue through Saturday and is available 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. today and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday.
If voters received an absentee ballot but prefer to vote in person at early voting or on Election Day, they can still do that. Take the absentee ballot and poll workers will destroy it in front of the voter. If you forget the absentee ballot you can still vote, but it will be a provisional, or challenged, ballot.
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