County Clerk Bucks Warner, Sends Applications to All Registered Voters

For Immediate Release
August 25, 2020

Charleston, W.Va. — Former Secretary of State Natalie Tennant praised the Lincoln County Commission and County Clerk after they sent absentee ballot applications to all Lincoln County registered voters.

Tennant says the county knows it’s important to send applications to voters as happened in the primary. Despite pressure from Secretary of State Mac Warner to not send out the applications, the county felt it important to listen to the voters who wanted a safe and secure way of voting as COVID-19 cases continue to climb in West Virginia.

“This action shows the county clerks are not unified behind Mac Warner and many don’t trust his judgment,” Tennant said. “Lincoln County’s elected officials are putting voters and their safety first.”

Tennant said Warner likes to claim all 55 county clerks support him, which is untrue.

“Many clerks have reached out to me privately, concerned that Warner’s refusal to send out absentee ballot applications is meant to suppress voter turnout in November,” Tennant said. “They have also said he hasn’t fully trained clerks on how to retrieve information from the online portal.”

Harrison County Clerk Susan Thomas told WVNews.com on July 28 she expects to see a reduction in absentee voting because of Warner’s refusal to support mailing applications to all register voters as he did in the primary.

“I don’t think it will be on the volume that we had it the first time,” Thomas said. “I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think so.”

The federal government gave West Virginia $3.8 million to administer the primary and general elections during the crisis. Warner says he has $2.8 million left.

Tennant said Warner should reimburse any county that decides to send applications to all of its registered voters.

“As the chief elections officer for the state, Warner has a responsibility to support county clerks even if they decide not to follow his guidelines during this election. He should not be playing politics over the voting rights of West Virginians,” Tennant said.