West Virginia · statute · W. Va. Code ch. 3 · 374 active provisions
This chapter shall constitute and may be cited as the "West Virginia Election Code" and contemplates and comprehends a code of laws for the establishment, administration and regulation of elections and election procedures in the State of West Virginia.
Unless restricted by the context, the provisions of this chapter shall apply to every general, primary and special election in which candidates are nominated or elected or in which voters pass upon any public question submitted to them, except that the provisions hereof shall be construed to be operative in municipal e…
(a) Notwithstanding other provisions of this code or of any special legislative or home rule city charter, the provisions of: (1) Articles eight and nine of this chapter; (2) any rules promulgated under authority granted in articles eight and nine of this chapter; and (3) any provisions of this chapter making a practic…
(a) Citizens of the state may vote at all elections held within the precincts of the counties and municipalities in which they respectively reside, but a person may not vote in a federal, state, county, municipal, or special election unless the person: (1) Is registered to vote as required by law; (2) Is 18 years of ag…
(1) Any citizen of the United States who is a resident of the state and who applies, not later than thirty days immediately prior to any presidential election for registration or qualification to vote for the choice of electors for president and vice-president, or for president and vice-president, in such election, and…
In all elections the mode of voting shall be by ballot, but the voter shall be left free to vote by either open, sealed, or secret ballot, as he may elect. Voting by ballot may be accomplished as provided in articles three, four, five and six of this chapter.
(a) The precinct is the basic territorial election unit. The county commission shall divide each magisterial district of the county into election precincts, shall number the precincts, shall determine, and establish the boundaries thereof and shall designate one voting place in each precinct, which place shall be estab…
The governing bodies of all municipalities shall, for the purpose of municipal elections, provide by ordinance for making the voting precincts in the respective municipalities coincide, as nearly as possible, to the boundaries of the voting precincts fixed by the county court for all state and county elections.
(a) Subject to the provisions and limitations of section five of this article, the county commission of any county may change the boundaries of any precinct within the county, or divide any precinct into two or more precincts, or consolidate two or more precincts into one, or change the location of any polling place wh…
Any affiliation of voters representing any principle or organization which, at the last preceding general election, polled for its candidate for Governor at least one per cent of the total number of votes cast for all candidates for that office in the state, shall be a political party, within the meaning and for the pu…
(a) Every fourth year at the primary election, the voters of each political party in each state senatorial district shall elect four members consisting of two male members and two female members of the state executive committee of the party. In state senatorial districts containing two or more counties, not more than t…
The members of all state, congressional, senatorial, and county executive committees for political parties in office at the time this section becomes effective, and the various officers of such committees, shall hold their several offices and discharge the duties thereof until their successors are chosen and installed…
The state executive committee of each party may make such rules for the government of such party, not inconsistent with law, as may be deemed expedient; and it may also revoke, alter, or amend, in any manner not inconsistent with law, any present or future rules of such party. All acts of such state or other committees…
The members of the national party executive committee of any political party, to which the state is entitled under the national organization and the rules and regulations of the national committee of the party, shall be elected by the state executive committee of such party, unless the rules of the national party other…
The members of any political party which, at the last preceding general election, polled, for its candidate for Governor, fewer than ten per cent of the total number of votes cast for all candidates for that office in the state, and groups of citizens, not constituting a political party, which nominate candidates for o…
Electors of president and vice president of the United States shall be nominated as provided in section twenty-one of article five of this chapter but their names shall be omitted from the general election ballot, as provided in section two of article six of this chapter, to be voted on the Tuesday next after the first…
At the general election in the year nineteen hundred and sixty-four and at each general election in every sixth year thereafter, and at the general election in the year nineteen hundred and sixty-six, and in each sixth year thereafter, there shall be elected a member of the United States Senate, and at the general elec…
(a) At the general election to be held in 1968, and every fourth year thereafter, there shall be elected a Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, Attorney General and Commissioner of Agriculture. At the general election in 1968, and every second year thereafter, there shall be elected a member of the State S…
(a) There shall be elected, at the time of the primary election to be held in 2016, and every eighth year thereafter, one judge of the circuit court of every judicial circuit entitled to one judge, and one judge for each numbered division of the judicial circuit in those judicial circuits entitled to two or more circui…
If the Legislature shall hereafter create any elective office, or make any office now filled by appointment an elective office, in the state or in any subdivision thereof, the person to fill the same shall be elected at the general election last preceding the beginning of the term of such office. The provisions of this…
(a) In each county in the state, the Board of Ballot Commissioners shall be comprised of: (1) The clerk of the county commission while holding office; and (2) Two other persons as follows: (A) One person appointed by the county executive committee of the political party that cast the largest number of votes in the stat…
(a) The board of ballot commissioners of each county shall provide cards of general information which will include: (1) The date of the election and the hours during which polling places will be open; (2) Instruction for mail-in registrants and first-time voters; (3) Voters' rights; and (4) Prohibitions against fraud a…
(a) The board of ballot commissioners for each county shall provide the ballots and sample ballots necessary for conducting every election for public officers in which the voters of the county participate. (b) The persons required to provide the ballots necessary for conducting all other elections are: (1) The Secretar…
(a) The printing of ballots for any election to be held pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be contracted for with a vendor authorized in accordance with the provisions of this section. (b) Any vendor authorized to do business in West Virginia and in good standing may apply for a certificate of authorizati…
The clerk of the county court of each county shall provide poll books, a list of all precincts within the county, tally sheets, ballot boxes, voting booths, registration records and forms, strong and durable envelopes upon which to make returns, blank forms for certifying returns and whatever further supplies are neede…