Registering as an independent will usually bar you from participating in any party’s caucuses or conventions. So if you plan on becoming politically active in one party in the near future, you may want to register in that party.

West Virginia has what's called a "closed" primary, which means that if you register in one party, you cannot vote for candidates in another party.

At the Primary Election, if you have a party choice listed on your voter registration, you will only be given the ballot of that party. If you register with no party affiliation, you will be given a non-partisan ballot in the Primary Election. The Republican, Mountain and Democratic Parties allow any voter who is not registered with an official party to vote in their Primary Election.

For the General Election, every registered voter receives the same ballot, regardless of party affiliation. You can choose from any candidate for each office on the ballot. Hope this helps! For more information, check out the West Virginia website at http://www.sos.wv.gov/elections/Pages/Political_Parties_in_West_Virginia.aspx#5

There are a lot of great tools and guides that can help you figure out who and what is on your ballot this year. Check out http://www.vote411.org/ or http://votesmart.org/voteeasy/# or http://thisismyballot.org/ to see the candidates and issues on the ballot in your area.

Your Secretary of State or local elections board may have sample ballots as well.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 2nd. The polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

You have the legal right to register and vote at any address that you will have been living in for a state-specific amount of time prior to the election. In every state, if you moved into on-or off-campus housing at the start of the fall semester, you will have been living there for long enough to vote.

A person may register to vote using any address he or she considers to be his or her legal residence. Residence requires both domicile and a place of abode. A P.O. Box is sufficient as a mailing address, but insufficient to establish residency. College students should list the street address of their dorm and specify the room, floor, or apartment they occupy.

It is against the law to use the voter roles to determine jury duty.

Yes. Each part of the state has its own unique candidates and measures on the ballot.

When you vote at your assigned polling place you will have the opportunity to vote on the candidates and issues that most directly affect you and your neighbors. When you send in your new voter registration form indicate that you are changing your address. You will get a voter registration card in the mail within a month that will tell you where your precinct’s polling place is located. You do not have to “unregister” your previous registration.

Absolutely. Go here for details on getting and submitting an absentee ballot: 

http://www.longdistancevoter.org/absentee_ballots 

Advanced planning is encouraged because in some states the deadline for applying for an absentee ballot is a few weeks prior to Election Day. As long as the absentee ballot itself is postmarked by Election Day it legally has to be counted.

Yes. Even if you are already registered at home, we encourage you to register at school.

You are much more likely to vote. And local election officials cannot treat students differently than they treat any other citizen when it comes to voting. (That’s in the U.S. Constitution, baby!) You cannot vote in two places -- like at your parent’s house and at school -- but if you consider your dorm or address at school your residence, you should register to vote there.