Early voting for Morgantown’s municipal election began on Wednesday and will end April 24.
The city council election — which this year includes a referendum on council member terms of office — will be held April 27.
Morgantown City Clerk Christine Wade said the first day started off rather slow with 28 votes around 5 p.m. compared to 56 at the end of the first day last election.
This year, one early voting poll has different hours. Wade explained state code requires the city hall polling place be open the same as business hours. Since Morgantown runs on a 4-day work week, that means the city hall poll is open 7a.m.-5:30p.m. Monday-Thursday. It is closed on Friday and open 9a.m.-5p.m. on Saturday.
The second early voting location, North Side Fire Station, is open Monday-Friday 8a.m.-5p.m. and 9a.m.-5p.m. on Saturday.
All polling locations follow COVID-19 safety protocol including masks, which are available, and social distancing.
Poll workers update the wait time every 30 minutes using GIS software. The wait time can be viewed through the election information page on morgantownwv.gov. Wade said wait times will also be updated every half hour on election day.
Starting today, polling places will also have a QR code posted outside for a survey about the voting experience.
“It gives us good takeaways on how we can improve for next election,” Wade said.
The referendum would change council member term lengths from two years to four years. It would also stagger the elections so all seven members did not need to run each election. According to the city’s website, this change would make Morgantown consistent with larger cities in West Virginia and promote stability.
The candidates for council are:
First Ward:
- Patrick Hathaway
- Seth Collins (Write-in)
Second Ward:
- Bill Kawecki
Third Ward:
- Paul Liller (Write-in)
- Ixya Vega (Write-in)
Fourth Ward:
- Jenny Selin
Fifth Ward:
- Marly Ynigues
- Tony Setley
- Danielle Trumble
Sixth Ward:
- Dave Harshbarger
- Jay Redmond (Write-in)
Seventh Ward:
- Brian Butcher
- Ben Mayle
TWEET @DominionPostWV
