Unless a voter, not affiliated with a party, is permitted to participate in the primary election of a political party, the following provisions apply to voters, not affiliated with a party, in primary elections that include non-partisan candidates or public questions:

Terms Used In West Virginia Code 3-4A-20

  • Ballot: means a logical or physical device that presents races, candidates and contests, and facilitates the capture of the voter'. See West Virginia Code 3-4A-2
  • Election: shall mean the procedure whereby the voters of this state or any subdivision thereof elect persons to fill public offices, or elect members of a Constitutional convention, or vote on public questions. See West Virginia Code 3-1-2
  • Voter: shall mean any person who possesses the statutory and Constitutional qualifications for voting. See West Virginia Code 3-1-2

(1) Election officers shall provide a vote recording device, where applicable, or the appropriate ballot to be marked by an electronically sensible pen or ink, or by means of a stylus or by means of touch or by other electronic means, so that voters not affiliated with a party may vote only those portions of the ballot relating to the nonpartisan candidates and the public questions submitted, or shall provide a ballot containing only provisions for voting for those candidates and upon those issues submitted common to the ballots provided to all voters regardless of political party affiliation, or both.

(2) In counties utilizing electronic voting systems in which votes are recorded by perforating, if vote recording devices are not available for the voters not affiliated with a party, provisions are to be made for sealing the partisan section or sections of the ballot or ballot labels on a vote recording device using temporary seals, thus permitting the voter not affiliated with a party to vote for the nonpartisan section or sections of the ballot or ballot labels.

 (3) After a voter not affiliated with a party has voted, temporary seals may be removed and the device may then be used by partisan voters.