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PARKERSBURG -- Early voting for the primary election in Wood County will get underway starting Wednesday this week, Wood County Clerk Mark Rhodes told the Wood County Commission on Monday.
Voting will be 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Judge Black Annex in downtown Parkersburg. On Thursday and Friday, early voting will be 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. On Saturday, early voting will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Monday, it will be 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
On Tuesday, May 3, the other satellite sites in the county will open up at the Vienna Community Building, Williamstown City Building, Mineral Wells VFD and Lubeck VFD. All early voting sites will be open that week from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Commissioner Jimmy Colombo asked Rhodes if he was informing people that the voting machines were not connected to the internet in regards to concerns from some that the machines could be hacked online. Rhodes said he has been informing people the voting machines are not connected to the internet.
Rhodes said he has had concerned citizens attending pollworker training and had gone through the process of how the voting machines worked with them.
So far the County Clerk's office has sent out around 80 absentee ballots. Usually, they have sent out around 250 during a typical mid-term election, Rhodes said.
"A medical reason is usually the main reason," Rhodes said of people requesting absentee ballots.
People coming to vote who have registered online and are voting for the first time will need to have a photo ID to vote which can include a state-issued drivers license, state issued ID card, concealed weapon permit and more. If they are an established voter, a voter registration card or utility bill would work.
Rhodes said during poll worker training the question came up of what if the signatures don't match in the voting rolls.
Some people originally signed their paperwork 30-40 years ago. People's signatures change over time, officials said.
Couch, who is in his 50s, said he originally signed his when he was 18.
However, if they have a valid driver's license they are good, Rhodes said.
They have had a lot of people in the last month going from Democrat registrations to non-partisan or Republican.
Currently, there are 23,895 registered Republicans, 13,765 registered Democrats and 14,005 people registered as non-partisans.
People registered as non-partisans will get their choice of Republican or Democratic ballots. People registered as Libertarian or Mountain Party will only be able to vote in non-party races in the primary.
Rhodes said they have trained pollworkers that people will be allowed vote. If they are not in the poll book or they don't have a valid ID they can still vote. Those ballots, under those circumstances, will be considered provisional and be reviewed by the commission meeting as the canvassing board before deciding whether the ballot counts or not.
"Nothing trumps the right to vote," Rhodes said. "I'm not saying it is going to count. That is up to the county commissioners to decide that."
People are asked not to wear political buttons or attire with political statements or endorsing a particular candidate. If they do, they will be asked to take it off or turn it inside out.
"People will show their support when they vote," Rhodes said.
Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com