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County Clerks Refuse to Accept Online Voter Registrations

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – Two county clerks in West Virginia are refusing to accept online voter registrations because they’re uncomfortable with security provisions in the state’s voter registration website.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail (http://bit.ly/1VsdBNs ) reports that Kanawha County Clerk Vera McCormick and Cabell County Clerk Karen Cole will not accept applications through the website until changes are made.

Both clerks have objected to a process that requires registrants to answer four questions correctly before moving on. They’re also concerned that the registration doesn’t require a physical signature.

Secretary of State of West Virginia Natalie Tennant says about 1,300 potential voters have been declined by Cole’s office. McCormick says that in Kanawha County, about 30 to 40 voters per day have been declined.

The clerks say that many of the online registrants that were declined have subsequently completed a paper form of the registration.