With voter ID requirements changes, prepare ahead to protect your rights
Published Dominion Post, Oct. 25, 2025. Reprinted with permission.
The West Virginia Legislature made big changes to voter ID requirements during the 2025 session. HB 3016 became effective July 11, 2025.
Voters will be required to show an approved form of photo ID at the polls during early in-person voting (begins April 29, 2026) or on Election Day (May 12). All West Virginians should prepare now for these new photo ID requirements in order to vote.
Eleven formerly accepted ID options have been eliminated.
Under the new law, the following forms of ID are acceptable: (https://sos.wv.gov/elections/Pages/BeReg.aspx)
West Virginia driver’s license or state-issued ID
Driver’s license from another state
U.S. passport or passport card (available with a hefty fee)
Employee ID with photo issued by local, state, or federal government
Student ID with photo from a WV institution of higher education or a WV high school
U.S. military ID with photo
Voter registration card with photo issued by a WV County Clerk or the WV Secretary of State
An ID issued by the DMV without a photo for voters who swear/affirm they belong to recognized religious communities that prohibit them from being photographed
*Exceptions:
If the voter is age 65 or older and their photo ID is expired, the document is acceptable if it was not expired on their 65th birthday.
An adult has known the voter for 6 months or more, and provides a signed, sworn statement.
A poll worker has known the voter for 6 months or more, no sworn statement required.
*Alternative: Registered voters may receive a free voter ID card by submitting an application in person at their County Clerk’s office.
All these changes may be problematic.
Poll workers vouching for voter identification may be applied unevenly.
Acquiring a free photo ID from the County Clerk’s office during open hours requires transportation. Yet, many elderly or disabled voters do not drive and the registrant still must have documented proof of citizenship.
In rural areas, residents may not have easy access to courthouses, DMV locations or disposable income to purchase fee-based identification.
For residents of care homes, exceptions are especially restrictive: “The care facility must be the polling place and the resident’s polling place must be located at the care facility.” Nursing homes or assisted living facilities will rarely meet these criteria.
Women risk having their vote denied if they changed their surname due to marriage or divorce and have not updated all that information with the Social Security Administration, the DMV and on voter registration records.
Young citizens eligible to vote for the first time are disadvantaged if they do not drive, are being homeschooled with no valid school photo ID or will be away at school or military training for their first election.
First-Time Voter ID Requirements (different than new photo ID requirements):
If you registered to vote for the first time in WV or your county and have not voted in a federal election in WV, valid first-time voter ID must be shown with your registration application or the first time you vote.
Valid ID for First-Time Voters: only the following documents showing your current name and address are acceptable:
Valid Photo Identification
Utility Bill
Bank Statement
Government Check
Paycheck
Any Other Official Government Document
For first-time absentee-by-mail voting: You must send a copy of a valid ID (above) with your ballot. The copy must be placed in “Absent Voter’s Ballot Envelope No. 2” (not in the secrecy envelope that protects your ballot).
If a first-time voter cannot provide one of the forms of valid ID listed for first-time voting in West Virginia, the ballot cast will become “provisional.” Provisional ballots are considered by the Board of Canvassers at canvass; they may or may not be counted.
The League of Women Voters opposes any legislation that erects barriers to voting for any citizen. We opposed HB 3016 during its journey through the Legislature and highlighted it in our Legislative Scorecard (LWVWV.org). This law will likely depress WV’s already poor voter turnout, especially for vulnerable populations who are over-represented in our state.
Know your voting rights and prepare ahead to protect them. LWV is here to help.