ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œCounty clerks are really the chief election officials,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� he said.

Warner said West Virginia has the smallest Secretary of StateÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Office staff of any of the constitutional officers at 49 staff members. Only six of those staff members focus on elections, he said.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s imperative to understand the role of the county clerk, so thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s why weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re here, making sure that if we can help with some training or something that weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re able to help with that weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll do it, but we need to hear from each of the clerks,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Warner said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œAnd each of the clerks have a different need based on the number of staff members that they have on board.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

Warner and the clerkÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s office employees discussed how the most recent legislative session will affect voters and the best approach to them. One of the discussions focused on how people without a driverÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s license will get a photo ID. The new law will require photo identification for in-person voting, with limited exceptions. It also mandates that most forms of voter identification include a photograph. The law will go into effect on July 11.

Cabell County Clerk Scott Caserta said itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s beneficial for county clerks to have an open line of communication with the secretary of state.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œEverything that we do, we do together, and itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s very helpful and beneficial to us that we have this manÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s ears anytime we need it, so being there for the local county clerks is everything to us,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Caserta said.

Warner, who took over the role after winning the 2024 general election, said his main goal is to ensure confidence in the elections to remain high.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThat means safe, secure, fair and honest elections,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Warner said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œYou can sit and occupy a seat or you can go to it and say, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥˜Hey, hereÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s what needs to be done.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

During the 2025 legislative session, Warner proposed 13 bills for the secretary of state legislative agenda, he said. Some of his legislative initiatives included keeping voter rolls as up-to-date as possible, strengthening voter ID requirements by removing non-photo documents, such as utility bills and bank statements, as acceptable forms of identification and enhancing penalties for failure to file campaign finance reports on time, according to a news release in February.

Several were signed into law, such as the photo ID changes.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI really wanted to see either non-citizen or non-voter printed somewhere underneath the photo,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Warner said.

Warner said it can be challenging for poll workers to identify non-voters or non-citizens. The state has 7,000 to 8,000 non-citizens who have West Virginia driverÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s licenses, he said.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThey got to be able to look at a line of voters and quickly see on that photo ID whether somebody is a non-voter or a non-citizen, but we had to negotiate,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Warner said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œAnd to get photo ID passed, we had to agree not to put ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥˜non-citizenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ or ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥˜NCÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ or ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥˜NVÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ or somehow identifying non-voter. But weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll take that back and use it as an opportunity to better educate the legislators.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

Another goal of WarnerÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s is to work with the legislature to reimburse the counties for the cost of poll workers and equalizing pay for poll workers statewide, he said.

During the visit, Caserta updated Warner on the countyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s online order program for certified birth, marriage and death certificates. Cabell County is the only county that offers the online service, he said. The meeting also went over election preparedness.

Warner will visit the Mingo County ClerkÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s office next.