CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) 鈥� Presenting a utility bill as a valid form of identification has gone the way of the tavern polling place and the punch-card ballot.
State lawmakers tightened an existing voter identification law by requiring photo ID at the polls, with some exceptions. The law was used for the first time in Tuesday鈥檚 primary election, and officials said they鈥檝e seen very few glitches.
鈥淭he whole point of the law is just making sure you are who you say you are,鈥� Secretary of State Kris Warner said Monday.
Voters for U.S. Senate, U.S. House and state legislature. They also will elect two new state Supreme Court justices.
During the in-person early voting period that ended Saturday, Warner said his office hadn鈥檛 heard of anyone who demanded to vote without a photo ID. He said the state had asked residents to use photo IDs for the past few elections, so 鈥渋t was not a big shock that it was now law.鈥�
During his statewide travels over the past two weeks, Warner said he was told of some instances where people returned to their vehicle to retrieve a photo ID after entering a polling place. Another voter used an exception to the law by filling out a form that was verified by a poll worker who has known them for at least six months. There also were exceptions for first-time voters.
Most states either for in-person voting at the polls.
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