§ W. Va. Code § 3-1-34Voting procedures generally; identification; assistance to voters; voting records; penalties.

(a) A person desiring to vote in an election shall, upon entering the election room, clearly state his or her name and residence to one of the poll clerks who shall thereupon announce the person’s name and residence in a clear and distinct tone of voice. The person desiring to vote shall present to one of the poll clerks a valid identifying document meeting the requirements of §3-1-34(a)(1) or §3-1-34(a)(2) of this code, and the poll clerk shall inspect and confirm that the name on the valid identifying document conforms to the name in the individual's voter registration record and that, if the valid identifying document contains a photograph, the image displayed is truly an image of the person presenting the document. If that person is found to be duly registered as a voter at that precinct, he or she shall sign his or her name in the designated location provided at the precinct. If that person is physically or otherwise unable to sign his or her name, his or her mark shall be affixed by one of the poll clerks in the presence of the other and the name of the poll clerk affixing the voter's mark shall be indicated immediately under the affixation. A ballot may not be given to the person until he or she signs his or her name on the designated location or his or her signature is affixed thereon.
(1) A document is a valid identifying document if it:
(A) Has been issued either by the State of West Virginia, one of its political subdivisions or instrumentalities, or by the United States Government;
(B) Contains the name of the person desiring to vote; and
(C) Contains a photograph of the person desiring to vote: Provided , That a driver’s license or identification card issued in accordance with §17B-2-1(f)(4) of this code that does not contain a photograph of the person desiring to vote is a valid identifying document.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of §3-1-34(a)(1) of this code, the following documents, if they contain the voter’s name, shall be considered valid identifying documents, and a person desiring to vote may produce any of the following:
(A) A valid West Virginia driver’s license or valid West Virginia identification card issued by the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, including a driver’s license or identification card issued in accordance with §17B-2-1(f)(4) of this code.
(B) A valid driver’s license issued by a state other than the State of West Virginia;
(C) A valid United States passport or passport card;
(D) A valid employee identification card with a photograph of the eligible voter issued by any branch, department, agency, or entity of the United States Government or of the State of West Virginia, or by any county, municipality, board, authority, or other political subdivision of West Virginia;
(E) A valid student identification card with a photograph of the eligible voter issued by an institution of higher education in West Virginia, or a valid high school identification card issued by a West Virginia high school;
(F) A valid military identification card issued by the United States with a photograph of the person desiring to vote; or
(G) A valid voter registration card that includes the voter’s photograph issued by a county clerk in the State of West Virginia or the Secretary of State. The county clerk or the Secretary of State may not charge or collect a fee for the application or issuance of a voter registration card that includes the voter’s photograph.
(3) Any expired document identified in §3-1-34(a)(2) of this code is a valid identifying document if presented by a registered voter 65 years of age or older: Provided , That the identifying document was not expired on the registered voter’s 65th birthday.
(4) In lieu of providing a valid identifying document, as required by this section, a registered voter may be accompanied at the polling place by an adult known to the registered voter for at least six months. That adult may sign an affidavit on a form provided to clerks and poll workers by the Secretary of State, which states under oath or affirmation that the adult has known the registered voter for at least six months, and that in fact the registered voter is the same person who is present for the purpose of voting. For the affidavit to be considered valid, the adult shall present a valid identifying document with his or her name, address, and photograph.
(5) A poll worker may allow a voter, whom the poll worker has known for at least six months, to vote without presenting a valid identifying document.
(6) If the person desiring to vote is unable to furnish a valid identifying document, or if the poll clerk determines that the proof of identification presented by the voter does not qualify as a valid identifying document, the person desiring to vote shall be permitted to cast a provisional ballot after executing an affidavit affirming his or her identity pursuant to §3-1-34(a)(6)(B) of this code.
(A) The provisional ballot may be counted once the election authority verifies the identity of the individual by comparing that individual's signature to the current signature on file with the election authority and determines that the individual was otherwise eligible to cast a ballot at the polling place where the ballot was cast.
(B) The affidavit to be used for voting shall be substantially in the following form:
"State of West Virginia
County of.....................................
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that my name is .................................................; that I reside at.............................; and that I am the person listed in the precinct register under this name and at this address.
I understand that knowingly providing false information is a violation of law and subjects me to possible criminal prosecution.
.......................................................
Signature of voter
Subscribed and affirmed before me this........... day of ....................., 20....
................................
Name of Election Official
................................
Signature of Election Official".
(7) A voter who votes in person at a precinct polling place that is located in a building which is part of a state licensed care facility where the voter is a resident is not required to provide proof of identification as a condition before voting in an election.
(8) The person entering voter information into the centralized voter registration database shall cause the records to indicate when a voter has not presented a valid identifying document and has executed a voter identity affidavit.
(9) If a voter participating in the Address Confidentiality Program established by §48-28A-103 of this code, executes a voter identity affidavit, the program participant's residential or mailing address is subject to the confidentiality provisions of §48-28A-108 of this code and shall be used only for those statutory and administrative purposes authorized by this section.
(10) The Secretary of State shall educate voters about the requirement to present a valid identifying document and develop a program to help ensure that all eligible voters are able to obtain a valid identifying document.
(b) The clerk of the county commission may, upon verification that the precinct at which a handicapped person is registered to vote is not handicap accessible, transfer that person's registration to the nearest polling place in the county which is handicap accessible. A request by a handicapped person for a transfer of registration must be received by the county clerk no later than 30 days prior to the date of the election. A handicapped person who has not made a request for a transfer of registration at least 30 days prior to the date of the election may vote a provisional ballot at a handicap accessible polling place in the county of his or her registration. If during the canvass the county commission determines that the person had been registered in a precinct that is not handicap accessible, the voted ballot, if otherwise valid, shall be counted. The handicapped person may vote in the precinct to which the registration was transferred only as long as the disability exists or the precinct from which the handicapped person was transferred remains inaccessible to the handicapped. To ensure confidentiality of the transferred ballot, the county clerk processing the ballot shall provide the voter with an unmarked envelope and an outer envelope designated "provisional ballot/handicapped voter". After validation of the ballot at the canvass, the outer envelope shall be destroyed and the handicapped voter's ballot shall be placed with other approved provisional ballots prior to removal of the ballot from the unmarked envelope.
(c) When the voter's signature is properly marked and the voter has presented a valid identifying document, the two poll clerks shall sign their names in the places indicated on the back of the official ballot and deliver the ballot to the voter to be voted by him or her without leaving the election room. If he or she returns the ballot spoiled to the clerks, they shall immediately mark the ballot "spoiled" and it shall be preserved and placed in a spoiled ballot envelope together with other spoiled ballots to be delivered to the board of canvassers and deliver to the voter another official ballot, signed by the clerks on the reverse side. The voter shall then retire alone to the booth or compartment prepared within the election room for voting purposes and there prepare his or her ballot. In voting for candidates in general and special elections, the voter shall comply with the rules and procedures prescribed in §3-6-5 of this code.
(d) A poll clerk shall, in the presence of the other poll clerk, indicate by a check mark, or by other means, inserted in the appropriate place on the registration record of each voter the fact that the voter voted in the election. In primary elections the clerk shall also insert on the registration record of each voter a distinguishing initial or initials of the political party for whose candidates the voter voted. If a person is challenged at the polls, the challenge shall be indicated by the poll clerks on the registration record, together with the name of the challenger. The subsequent removal of the challenge shall be recorded on the registration record by the clerk of the county commission.
(e) (1) A voter may not receive any assistance in voting unless, by reason of blindness, disability, advanced age, or inability to read and write, that voter is unable to vote without assistance. Any voter qualified to receive assistance in voting may:
(A) Declare his or her choice of candidates to an Election Commissioner of each political party who, in the presence of the voter and in the presence of each other, shall prepare the ballot for voting in the manner provided in this section and, on request, shall read to the voter the names of the candidates selected on the ballot;
(B) Require the Election Commissioners to indicate to him or her the relative position of the names of the candidates on the ballot. The voter shall then retire to one of the booths or compartments to prepare his or her ballot in the manner provided in this section;
(C) Be assisted by any person of the voter's choice, other than the voter's present or former employer or agent of that employer, the officer or agent of a labor union of which the voter is a past or present member or a candidate on the ballot or an official write-in candidate; or
(D) If he or she is handicapped, vote from an automobile outside the polling place or precinct by the absentee balloting method provided in §3-3-5(e) of this code in the presence of an Election Commissioner of each political party if all of the following conditions are met:
(i) The polling place is not handicap accessible; and
(ii) Voters are not voting or waiting to vote inside the polling place.
(2) The voted ballot shall then be returned to the precinct officials and secured in a sealed envelope to be returned to the clerk of the county commission with all other election materials. The ballot shall then be tabulated using the appropriate method provided in §3-1-8 of this code as it relates to the specific voting system in use.
(3) A voter who requests assistance in voting but who is believed not to be qualified for assistance under the provisions of this section shall be permitted to vote a provisional ballot with the assistance of any person authorized in this section to render assistance.
(4) One or more of the Election Commissioners or poll clerks in the precinct may challenge the ballot on the ground that the voter received assistance in voting if when in his, her or their opinion the person who received assistance in voting is not so illiterate, blind, disabled or of such advanced age as to have been unable to vote without assistance. The Election Commissioner or poll clerk or commissioners or poll clerks making the challenge shall enter the challenge and the reason for such challenge on the form and in the manner prescribed or authorized by §3-3-1 et seq . of this code.
(5) An Election Commissioner or other person who assists a voter in voting:
(A) May not in any manner request or seek to persuade or induce the voter to vote a particular ticket or for a particular candidate or for or against any public question and shall not keep or make any memorandum or entry of anything occurring within the voting booth or compartment and shall not, directly or indirectly, reveal to any person the name of a candidate voted for by the voter, which ticket he or she had voted, how he or she had voted on any public question, or anything occurring within the voting booth, compartment, or voting machine booth except when required by law to give testimony as to the matter in a judicial proceeding; and
(B) Shall sign a written oath or affirmation before assisting the voter on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State stating that he or she will not override the actual