The Secretary of State's Office is reporting record high numbers of voters casting ballots during the state's early voting period.
The Secretary of State's Office announced Monday more than 100,000 West Virginians in all 55 counties cast early votes. The early voting period was from April 27 to May 7.
Another 5,000 ballots have been cast through the absentee voting procedure, according to the office. Absentee ballots are valid in the race as long as they are posted marked by May 10, the same day as West Virginia's primary election.
Early voting began in West Virginia in 2002 when just 14,000 people cast ballots. During the last presidential election cycle in 2012, some 57,000 West Virginians voted early.
The early voting record totals come two years after the state experienced one of the worst voter participation rates in the nation. In 2014, voter turnout was 37.3 percent.
The following are the number of early votes cast by party affiliation in 2016:
- Democrat: 49,570
- Republican: 33,935
- No Affiliation: 11,228
- Other: 3,677
- Libertarian: 99
- Mountain: 44
