A note from Erin:
“I’m excited to collaborate with Wheeling Heritage to bring you a series that focuses on voter registration and election news — explaining new laws, clearing up misunderstandings and misinformation, and helping shed light on how the whole process works. This monthly article will be fact-based, so whether you’re not political at all, a casual voter, or staunchly left, right, or somewhere in between, the information shared here affects you.”
As part of this ongoing series, Erin continues to share key updates that impact local voters. This month’s edition covers an important change coming to West Virginia’s Republican Primary Elections; one that will directly affect thousands of unaffiliated and independent voters.
The Ohio County May 12th Primary Election saw the lowest voter turnout in the last three election cycles. Participation during a non-presidential year is always lower, so that wasn’t a surprise. The 2024 Primary saw 40.3% of the county’s voters cast their ballots-a record turnout. However, the last non-presidential primary in 2022 saw 28.03% participation while this past May witnessed a meager 23.02% participation.
Most of our local contests were unopposed, which I’m sure explains some of the 5% drop in attendance at the polls. There are several statisticians and political experts in the area who can undoubtedly explain the numbers much better than I can. What I do know when I look at these numbers is that not only just 23.02% of our registered voters participated, but that 76.98% of our registered voters decided not to. What that means is less than 1/4th of the county’s voters are making the decisions on leadership.
There is good news though! After looking at Ohio County’s voter turnout since 2022 and comparing that to the state voter turnout during the same time, I discovered Ohio County voted at a higher percentage than the state average in the last three primary elections.
| ELECTION | OHIO COUNTY % TURNOUT | STATE % TURNOUT |
| 2026 PRIMARY | 23.02% | 21% |
| 2024 PRIMARY | 40.3% | 30.49% |
| 2022 PRIMARY | 28.03% | 22.92% |
Ohio County residents do show up at the polls at a rate that is on trend, but consistently higher than the state average. While I’d love to see every voter cast a ballot, Ohio County should be proud of their continued contribution to elections.
As we turn our attention to the November 3rd, General Election, I want to encourage voters to make sure your voter registration is up to date, know your polling place, and know who is on your ballot. You can reach out to any of the county executive committees with questions about candidates, and to my office at 304-234-3628 to check your voter registration.
