W. Va. Code § 3-1-46

This is the official text of W. Va. Code § 3-1-46, part of West Virginia’s Va. Code — part of the compiled statutory law of West Virginia, published by the state as "Va. Code." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

§3-1-46. Training program for election officials.

Official statutory text

(a) The Secretary of State in conjunction with the state Election Commission shall produce one or more audio-visual programs which explain and illustrate the procedures for conducting elections, the duties of the various election officials and the methods of voting on each voting system in use in the state.

(b) One copy of the appropriate training program shall be distributed to and kept and preserved by the clerk of the county commission of each county. The program shall be shown to all election officials before each election as part of their instructional program. The clerk of the county commission shall conduct an adequate number of sessions to train all election officials, shall schedule the regular sessions not less than seven days before each election and shall notify all election officials of the exact date, time and place such instructional program will be conducted.

(c) No person may serve as an election commissioner or poll clerk in any election unless he or she has attended the instructional program required by subsection (a) of this section within thirty days prior to an election. If an election official fails to attend the instructional program, another person shall be appointed in the election official's place in the same manner as persons are appointed under the provisions of section thirty of this article to replace election officials refusing to serve. The clerk of the county commission shall conduct an additional instructional program within seven days prior to the election for any such person so appointed: Provided, That in cases of emergency, when no person who has attended the instructional program for that election is available to fill a vacancy on the election board, the clerk of the county commission may appoint the substituted person as a commissioner or poll clerk notwithstanding that he or she has not received the instruction.

(d) The requirements of this section apply to all elections conducted by municipalities, except that the recorder or municipal clerk responsible for the election shall perform the duties of the clerk of the county commission defined in this section. The clerk of the county commission may assist the recorder or municipal clerk in conducting the instructional program.

(e) When the instructional program is not being used by the clerk for instructional purposes, it shall be available to any duly organized civic, religious, educational or charitable group without charge, except that the clerk shall require a cash deposit on such use in an amount to be determined by the Secretary of State.

(f) The Secretary of State shall cause the instructional program to be amended, edited or reproduced whenever he or she is of the opinion such revision is necessary in light of changes in the election laws of this state.

(g) No elected official may appear in any training program either in person or by visual image or by name.

(h) Every county clerk shall attend a training, to be conducted by the Secretary of State every two years, for the purpose of reviewing the election official training and receiving updates on election law matters.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in West Virginia?

Find a West Virginia lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.