CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Secretary of State Natalie Tennant said voter identification laws are a hot topic, but hopes the issue won't overshadow the strides her office has made.
Tennant touted cost saving and efficiency measures she's enacted for businesses and the openness and ease of online interactions with her office when she spoke to Gazette editors Friday.
She's interested in exploring options to expand voting opportunities for military personnel and participated in two pilot projects. One allows military members to vote online and another sends the ballot via email to shorten its delivery time overseas.
The pilot programs weren't implemented without criticism over security risks, however, but that's something she's willing to endure.
"I think it's imperative we as elected officials look for ways we can make it easier and more efficient for those in the military to get it back to us. That was my purpose for pushing online voting," she said.
Tennant admitted her office missed the deadline to remind voters about a resolution to remove the two-term limit for county sheriffs, but said she didn't think the misstep would affect the vote.
She also spoke about criticism she received over letting Keith Judd, a Texas inmate, run for president in the primary election in the state.
"My job is about voter access and access to get on the ballot <t40>...<t$> I did my job," she said. "The shame isn't he was on the ballot, it's that people voted for him."
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Secretary of State Natalie Tennant said voter identification laws are a hot topic, but hopes the issue won't overshadow the strides her office has made.
Tennant touted cost saving and efficiency measures she's enacted for businesses and the openness and ease of online interactions with her office when she spoke to Gazette editors Friday.
She's interested in exploring options to expand voting opportunities for military personnel and participated in two pilot projects. One allows military members to vote online and another sends the ballot via email to shorten its delivery time overseas.
The pilot programs weren't implemented without criticism over security risks, however, but that's something she's willing to endure.
"I think it's imperative we as elected officials look for ways we can make it easier and more efficient for those in the military to get it back to us. That was my purpose for pushing online voting," she said.
Tennant admitted her office missed the deadline to remind voters about a resolution to remove the two-term limit for county sheriffs, but said she didn't think the misstep would affect the vote.
She also spoke about criticism she received over letting Keith Judd, a Texas inmate, run for president in the primary election in the state.
"My job is about voter access and access to get on the ballot <t40>...<t$> I did my job," she said. "The shame isn't he was on the ballot, it's that people voted for him."
Tennant praised her office's efforts leading the election fraud investigation in Lincoln County, which resulted in arrests and criminal convictions.
"I have more convictions and have done more investigations of election fraud than any other secretary of state," she said. However, "stronger voter ID laws wouldn't have stopped what happened there."
"There's a difference between voter fraud and election fraud," Tennant said. She said no cases of voter fraud have ever arisen in the state.
West Virginia already has sufficient voter identification laws, Tennant believes, because upon registering identification must be proven.
"We have voter ID in West Virginia. I am not about suppressing, making it more difficult for people. Has this form of our voter identification been successful? The answer is yes," she said.
Her Republican opponent, Delegate Brian Savilla, R-Putnam, had a prior commitment and could not attend the meeting with editors Friday.
Reach Kate White at kate.wh...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1723.
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