Local counties report high first day early voter turnout | News, sports, jobs

Photo by Joselyn King Just before early voting begins, a long line forms at the entrance to the polling place at the City-County Building in Wheeling.

WHEELING — If the number of people who cast their first votes in the 2024 general election is any indication, there is a lot of interest in this year’s political elections.

More than two dozen people stood in line waiting to cast their votes in Ohio County as polls opened Wednesday morning in the Mountain State to begin “no-excuses” early voting.

By the end of the day at 5 p.m., 606 people in Ohio County had cast early votes.

Other counties in the Northern Panhandle also reported high voting numbers on Tuesday. As of late afternoon, Marshall County had 406 early voters; Brooke County, 344; Hancock, 276; Wetzel, 160, and Tyler, 145.

All of these counties reported long lines out the door and still had an hour to vote.

Many of those waiting in line in Ohio County said they had grave concerns about the upcoming election and the future of our country.

“I’m here for democracy,” said Rick Altman of Wheeling. “We have two opposing candidates (for US president) and one is not a fan of democracy, but rather a supporter of totalitarianism.

“(Democratic Vice President) Kamala Harris seems to care about the whole country.”

Virginia Molnar of Wheeling echoed his thoughts.

“My main concern is saving democracy,” she said. “If you listen to the rhetoric, we are a nation in turmoil. ”

Closest to the door was Paul Lee of Wheeling.

“I think it’s my duty (to vote),” he said. “The candidates that there are in this country (running for president) … I don’t think one person is more capable of doing that.”

Jerry Watkins of Wheeling said he “always” votes early.

“I want to do it to make it,” he said. “You have to do it. I don’t want to have to wait in line (at a polling station) on election day.”

Others in the line noted, “If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain about decisions made by government leaders.”

Attorney Don Tennant, attorney for the Ohio County Commission, stopped by with the intention of early voting. After seeing the first line, he decided to wait until later.

“I want to demonstrate the benefits of early voting,” he said. “The more utility it shows, the more it guarantees we retain the right to early voting.”