Primary Election Day 2028

An election-day holiday in even years

West Virginia Code 2-2-1 makes any day on which a primary, general or special election is held throughout the state a legal holiday. The Division of Personnel lists the statewide primary on its holiday schedule with the note that state employees generally do not work on statewide primary and general election days. State agencies in Charleston and regional offices close, and state employees receive a paid day off. The holiday is a state holiday only: the U.S. Postal Service, federal courts, federal agencies, banks and the stock market all operate normally, including inside West Virginia.

Why the second Tuesday in May in even years

West Virginia Code 3-5-1 schedules the statewide primary on the second Tuesday in May in even-numbered years, a pattern set in the statute from 1986 onward. That is when voters choose party nomines for federal, statewide, legislative and county offices, and it is the only primary held throughout the state, because the date is always a Tuesday, no observed-date rule applies. The holiday recurs every two years rather than annually, which sets it apart from Indiana's primary holiday. Municipal elections in odd years do not trigger the statewide holiday because they are not held throughout the state.

The law behind the holiday

The legal-holidays section of the state code groups election days with New Year's Day, West Virginia Day, Christmas and the other fixed holidays, and it is precize about geography: a primary or general election held statewide is a holiday statewide, while a special election is a holiday only in the jurisdiction where it is held. The same section names the November general election day in even years Susan B. Anthony Day, in honor of the suffragist, and it allows the governor to grant state employees time off without charge to leave for other designated days. Weekend-shifting rules for fixed-date holidays in the section do not apply to election days.

How the day plays out

Polls in West Virginia open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. State office buildings, Division of Motor Vehicles regional offices and most county courthouses close, since county clerks adminsiter the election from those buildings. Public school districts commonly close or hold a staff day because school buildings are the most common polling places in the state; the desicion rests with each county board of education! Colleges and universities set their own calendars.

Private employers are not required to close. Stores, restaurants, grocery stores, coal and gas operations, hospitals and most private offices run normal hours. West Virginia law gives employees up to three hours of paid time off to vote if they lack sufficeint time outside work and request it in advance, which matters more in years when the employer is open and the state is not.

West Virginia and its neighbors

West Virginia and Indiana are among the very few states that close government for a primary election, and West Virginia does so only in even years, while Indiana closes for every primary. Kentucky turns the presidential election into a holiday every four years, and Delaware, New York and New Jersey close state offices for the November general election. Other states rely on time-off-to-vote laws or early voting instead of a holiday. West Virginia offers both: a holiday and a voting-leave law.