A recent mailer from the West Virginia Republican Party has drawn a formal complaint from the state Democratic Party about possible voter suppression. (Photo courtesy of the West Virginia Republican Party)
West Virginia Republican Party Chairman Josh Holstein said the party is in no way trying to suppress voters after a ballot mailer drew criticism of its wording and a formal complaint from the state Democratic Party.
The mailer in question, paid for by the state Republican Party, told voters in huge letters: “Only registered Republicans can vote on May 12!”
The Republican Party of West Virginia has closed its area codemeaning only voters registered as Republicans can vote in a Republican primary. Independent voters cannot vote on the Republican ballot, but can request a nonpartisan or Democratic ballot.
The state Democratic Party called the mailer “patently misleading” and said it “created the false impression that only Republicans could vote.”
“This mailer is intentionally deceptive,” West Virginia Democratic Party Chairman Mike Pushkin said in a statement Monday. “This headline is intended to mislead voters, especially independents, into thinking they cannot vote at all in the May 12 primary. That is simply not true.”
Holstein said criticism of the mailer ignores the fact that both sites specifically list Republican primaries.
“We’ve been running an aggressive campaign for three months — earned media, digital, text, mail — trying to engage more people,” Holstein said. “The idea that we’re trying to suppress voters when this whole agenda is to bring in more people and make sure that the people who vote in the Republican primaries can continue to do so… I understand it’s easy to score cheap political points, but it’s a little ridiculous.”
The West Virginia Democratic Party plans to file a formal complaint with the Secretary of State’s office about the mailer and will demand a thorough investigation into what it says appears to be “a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise voters.”
“The Republican Party made a conscious decision to exclude independents from its primaries,” Pushkin said. “Now they are making this worse by sending out mailings aimed at suppressing voter turnout.”
This is the first closed Republican primary in West Virginia since the mid-1980s. Republican voter registrations in West Virginia increased by 3,842 voters from tardy February to tardy March, according to data reporting from Parkersburg News and Sentinel.
The deadline to register to vote or change party affiliation before the primary is Tuesday at 11:59 p.m.
“We’re making a few last-minute pushes here in digital and text messaging, making sure as many people as possible are informed about the process,” Holstein said, adding that they targeted the information to residents who have voted in Republican primaries in the past. “Of course we want as many people as possible to join the Republican Party and want to participate in our primaries and vote.”
Early voting runs from April 29th to May 9th. Primary election day is May 12th.
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