West Virginia Voting Records

Voting Rights History

 * By 1856: Universal white male suffrage
 * 1870: The 15th Amendment is passed and prohibits restricting suffrage based on race
 * Early 1890s: Jim Crow Laws passed to revoke African-Americans right to vote
 * 1920: Women are given the right to vote
 * 1965: The Voting Rights Act passes; African-Americans are given back the right to vote

What Can be Found in the Records
For more information about how Voter Records can help your genealogical research see United States Voting Records. Voting records often contain:
 * Name
 * Birth place
 * Residence
 * Years living in city, county, state
 * Whether naturalized, date, court

How to Find Voter Records
Most voter records were kept on the county level (for New England states this should be town level). To see what FamilySearch has for your county (town) of research follow these steps:
 * Go to the FamilySearch Catalog and in the place field type in West Virginia
 * Go to United States, West Virginia
 * Once there, click on "Places within United States, West Virginia"
 * Select the county that contains your town of interest
 * If FamilySearch has voter records for your county, they will be under "Voting Registers"