More than 600 of Monongalia County’s registered voters have already cast their ballots for or against the county’s $2-a-week service fee proposal.
As of 4:20 p.m. Monday, 629 ballots — from about 1.27 percent of the county’s 49,363 registered voters — had been cast at the county’s election center, located in the Monongalia County Magistrate Court building on Spruce Street. More than 100 ballots were cast Monday, County Clerk Carye Blaney said.
“It has just been swamped,” she said.
The number of votes cast has already exceeded the figure for the city of Morgantown’s most recent election. Only 215 of the city’s 13,900 registered voters — about 1.55 percent — participated in last April’s municipal election, in which all seven candidates ran uncontested.
A special election is scheduled Saturday to consider the county’s service fee plan, under which $2 per week will be collected from the paycheck of any individual employed in Monongalia County. The proposal is expected to raise $150 million for road construction projects in up to 30 years.
Polling locations around the county will be open from 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Saturday, but early voting continues through 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Blaney expects about 1,000 early votes to be cast by the end of the day Wednesday. She said a public forum, sponsored by The Dominion Post, on Tuesday at South Middle School will likely prompt even more people to vote Wednesday.
Monongalia County Commissioner Asel Kennedy said he wasn’t sure what to think of the vote total so far.
“I don’t know if that’s a good number or a bad number” compared to previous elections, Kennedy said. “The more people that vote, the better.”
A total of 986 early votes — constituting about 2 percent of the county’s registered voters at the time — were cast in the county’s most recent special election. In that election — held in 2003 to consider a proposed $50 million school bond — 11,100 votes were cast, for a voter turnout of about 23 percent.
Of the 14,144 registered city voters in 2005, only 1,403 — or about 9.91 percent — came out to the polls. Two candidates ran opposed in that year’s municipal election.
“It’s difficult to generate enthusiasm for uncontested elections ...,” Morgantown City Manager Dan Boroff said. “I am pleased so many people are engaged in the process [for the service fee]. It’s reflective of how many people are concerned about the future growth and prosperity of this county. I’m also hopeful this trend continues, and we have a record turnout Saturday.”
Monongalia County Commissioner John Pyles said he’s surprised by the early voting numbers considering the lack of public parking near the county’s election center. The closest parking spaces available are in a metered lot on Spruce Street below Pleasant Street or in the Public Safety Building parking garage, at the corner of Spruce and Walnut streets.
An entire block of Spruce Street, from Pleasant Street to Walnut Street, will be closed for Saturday’s special election to provide parking for a polling location in the magistrate court building.
“There’s been quite a bit of interest in the issue,” Pyles said. “Letters to the editor, there’s been dozens of those [published in The Dominion Post]. If you’re a minimum-wage worker and you can’t pay your utilities now, I’d imagine that would be a good reason to vote.”
Timothy Cooper, creator of the Web site stopthefee.net, said the service fee is one of the few taxation issues in which people have the opportunity to decide their own fate.
“This is an issue that lots of people are taking very seriously,” Cooper said. “People are concerned about this issue and want to make sure their voices are heard.”
Cooper, 21, a music composition major at WVU, is registered as Democrat in Kanawha County, where he is seeking a seat in the House of Delegates’ 20th District. He will not be able to vote in Saturday’s election.
One reason he chose to speak out against the fee is because it may affect many of his classmates’ ability to pay for college and related costs.
“I know many, many students who have a hard time paying their bills as it is,” Cooper said.
Commission President Bob Bell and Service Fee Advisory Board Chairman Steve LaCagnin did not return calls to The Dominion Post by deadline Monday for comment.
