Registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans among Kanawha County residents who voted early ahead of Tuesday's general election, bucking a statewide trend in which Republicans held the advantage.
Kanawha recorded 18,005 early in-person ballots during the voting period that ended Saturday, Oct. 31, the highest total of any West Virginia county, according to figures from the Secretary of State's Office.
Of those voters, 8,366 were registered Democrats and 6,143 were Republicans. Another 2,985 had no party affiliation, while 511 belonged to other parties or registration classifications.
Democrats accounted for 46.5% of the county's early in-person voters, compared with 34.1% for Republicans — a difference of 12.4 percentage points.
Statewide, Republicans led with 68,165 early in-person ballots, compared with 59,947 cast by registered Democrats. Another 27,617 voters had no party affiliation.
The figures reflect voters' party registrations, not the candidates they supported. Voters are not required to support candidates from their registered party in a general election.
Kanawha's 18,005 early in-person ballots exceeded the totals in Berkeley County, which recorded 13,954, and Monongalia County, with 13,576. Cabell County recorded 9,402 ballots, while neighboring Putnam County had 6,291.
Kanawha accounted for 11.1% of all early in-person ballots cast statewide. But that figure measures the county's share of votes, not its turnout rate among registered voters.
Across West Virginia, 162,349 people voted early in person between Oct. 21 and Oct. 31, compared with 131,404 during the 2022 midterm election — an increase of 23.5%.
The increase varied by party registration. According to the Secretary of State's Office, early in-person voting rose approximately 19% among Democrats, 28% among Republicans and 31% among voters with no party affiliation.
The increases do not necessarily mean overall turnout will exceed 2022 levels. Some residents who previously voted on Election Day may have chosen to vote early this year.
Early-voting totals and party-registration patterns also differed considerably across the state's 55 counties. The interactive map below allows readers to compare those differences with Kanawha County.
Absentee voting
Absentee voting added another 750 returned ballots to Kanawha County's pre-Election Day total.
County residents had requested 1,098 absentee ballots as of Saturday. Of the 750 returned, 457 came from registered Democrats, 172 from Republicans and 103 from voters with no party affiliation. Another 18 came from voters in other registration classifications.
That puts Kanawha's absentee ballot return rate at 68.3%, below the statewide rate of 71.9%. Those percentages measure the share of requested ballots returned by the reporting date, not whether the ballots were ultimately counted.
Combining early in-person voting and returned absentee ballots, Kanawha County had recorded 18,755 ballots before Election Day, accounting for 11.1% of the statewide total.
Across West Virginia, 7,001 of the 9,735 requested absentee ballots had been returned. Together with early in-person voting, that brought the state's preliminary total to 169,350 ballots, or approximately 14% of its 1,210,297 registered voters.
The figures remain unofficial. Final turnout will depend on Election Day voting, the processing of outstanding ballots and the canvass.
Secretary of State Kris Warner attributed the statewide increase in early voting in part to easier access to voter registration. The available turnout figures, however, do not establish what caused the increase.
Polls will be open Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voters in line by 7:30 p.m. will be allowed to vote.
This is the first statewide general election under West Virginia's revised voter identification law, which generally requires an approved form of photo identification for in-person voting, with limited exceptions.
Voters can find their polling location, review their sample ballot and learn about identification requirements at GoVoteWV.com.
