CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A public hearing next month will be held by the Kanawha County Commission to address several hundred residents who have been voting in the wrong precinct since 2011.
The county commission again addressed the issue at its Thursday meeting and previously planned a resolution for Aug. 10.
“It looks like there were approximately 700 or 800 voters that were put in wrong districts, some in the 35th versus the 36th House District, and then there were some confusion in the Malden area between the 8th and the 17th Senatorial Districts,” said Commissioner Dave Hardy.
The commission first realized the error earlier this year, and decided that despite having to make a change during an election cycle, the problem had to be resolved.
“The most important thing to do with an election is to make sure the public has confidence in that election,” Hardy said. “Errors were discovered, we’re not sweeping those errors under the rug; we’re addressing them head on and we will fix them.”
Kanawha County Clerk Vera McCormick spoke at Thursday’s meeting, and took responsibility for the mistake.
“I am the face of elections. I’ll take the blame for anything that I do, but we’ve got to work together on this and get it done,” she said. “If you know there’s a mistake, you’ve got to correct it, and the voters are going to have to realize that. Some of them may be upset they’re not voting for the same person they voted for in the primary.”
Hardy said that voters affected will be informed of any changes, and the Aug. 10 meeting would be open and honest, but in his mind there was only one solution.
“All parties will have a chance to present their points of view, but speaking solely for me and my vote, I am not going to do anything other than move the voters into the proper precincts.”
Keith Pauley, a GOP candidate for the House of Delegates in the 35th District, asked the commission Thursday not to move voters until after the November election, but commission President Kent Carper refused to consider knowingly allowing the mistake to continue.