WV Secretary of State Kris Warner announces summary of accomplishments for first year in office at WV Press Association event in Charleston

Charleston, W.Va – Secretary of State Kris Warner took office on January 13, 2025 as West Virginia's 31st Secretary of State. In that position, among other duties prescribed by State Code, Secretary Warner serves as the state's chief elections official as well as the state's chief business registration official.

On Friday, January 9th, Secretary Warner released a summary of the 2025 highlights and accomplishments of the WV Secretary of State's Office during his presentation to the WV Press Association at the organization's annual "Legislative Look-Ahead Conference" held at the State Culture Center.

Promising transparency, fiscal responsibility, fairness in elections, and working to eliminate barriers for entrepreneurs and business owners to start and grow their business, Secretary Warner hit the road in January to visit all 55 counties. By July 15th, he had visited all 55 county clerks and numerous county commissioners, sheriffs, assessors, judges, magistrates, and other courthouse personnel.

The WV Secretary of State's Office works closely with the state's 55 county clerks in preparing for and administering county and state elections every two years. The 2026 election cycle begins January 12th with a Candidate Filing Period that lasts until midnight on Saturday, January 31st.

Several municipalities will be joining the county/state election cycle this year. In an effort to increase voter participation at the local level, the legislature passed legislation in 2024 that requires all 231 West Virginia municipalities to host their municipal elections in conjunction with the county/state elections. Municipalities have until 2032 to make the adjustment.

In non-election years, the WV Secretary of State hosts a three-day conference for county clerks and chief elections staff members from all 55 counties. That conference focuses on the administration of the upcoming election, new election rules enacted by the legislature, new voting technology, security protocols, and federal regulations.

In cooperation with the WV Municipal League, the Secretary of State hosts annual election training for municipal clerks and recorders. Council members and mayors are also invited to attend. The 2026 Municipal Election Training Seminar is set for Tuesday, January 27th, in Charleston.

The state of West Virginia will host approximately 1,651 precincts throughout the state in the May 12, 2026 Primary Election. More than 8,250 poll workers will be required to manage the precincts on election day.

"Our accomplishments in 2025 are a result of the leadership of our management team working closely with a dedicated and well-trained staff to operate efficiently and effectively every day," said Secretary Warner. "We work cooperatively with the legislature, county clerks, chambers of commerce, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and the voters to make sure that the services we provide are done timely and reliably," he said.

Below is a summary of the 2025 accomplishments and highlights of the WV Secretary of State's Office:

Election Integrity & Legislative Reforms

Secretary Warner advocated for several key legislative measures during the 2025 session—securing broad support. These include House Bill 3016 (photo‑ID requirement), SB 86 (prohibiting non‑citizen voting in local elections), SB 487 (reducing delays on voter registration roll cleanup), SB 486 (clarifying local voting eligibility to U.S. citizens), and SB 490 (banning ranked‑choice voting), among others. In total, eight election-specific bills were passed, significantly strengthening statewide election integrity.

• Photo‑ID Voting
  With the passage of HB 3016, voters must now present a valid photo ID at the polls.
• Ranked‑Choice Voting Ban
  The passage of SB 490 prohibits ranked-choice voting in any state, county, or local elections. This legislation is considered a proactive move to ensure voting transparency.
• National Recognition
  These election security measures earned West Virginia recognition from the Foundation for Government Accountability, spotlighting the state’s leadership in electoral integrity.

Statewide Civic Engagement & Voter Registration Efforts

In his first six months, Secretary Warner conducted a countywide tour across all 55 counties to meet election officials and county clerks. He spent the majority of his time in the State gathering opinions and concerns, addressing needs, and sharing best practices ahead of the 2026 election cycle.

• Election Training Conference
  Secretary Warner gleaned great insights from his statewide tour, which informed a biennial Election Training Conference aimed at further preparing clerks and staff to maintain fair, accessible, and secure elections.
• High School Voter Registration Activities
  The Office assisted local officials with voter registration drives at high schools around the State. For the 2024–2025 school year, 21 schools earned the Jennings Randolph Award after registering at least 85% of eligible seniors—a milestone in youth civic engagement and a great start for these young West Virginians' civic participation.
• 38,960 New Voter Registrations in 2025
  From January 13th to December 29th, a total of 38,960 new eligible citizens were registered to vote. Of that total, 16,535 voters were 17, 18, or 19 years old and registered due primarily to our Jennings Randolph Award for civic engagement.
• Keeping West Virginia Voter Rolls Accurate & Updated
  A total of 62,756 outdated, duplicate, deceased, and convicted felon voter files were removed from the Statewide Voter Registration System. Voter registration list maintenance is a long, arduous process that is required by state and federal law. Often, records have been abandoned for more than 4 years before the record can be cancelled.

Business Division Achievements & Economic Support

• New Business Filings
  For the calendar year of 2025, a total of 19,176 new businesses were registered through the WV Secretary of State’s Office, signaling strong entrepreneurial momentum throughout the state. As of December 30th, there were a total of 172,147 business entities registered with the WV Secretary of State's Office.
• Boots‑to‑Business & Young Entrepreneur Incentives
  Fee‑waiver programs were promoted to encourage entrepreneurship not only by waiving registration fees, but also the first four years of annual-report filing for young entrepreneurs. In 2025, a total of 1,049 new businesses qualified for the "Boots to Business" waiver.
  A total of 1,006 new businesses qualified for the "Young Entrepreneur Fee Waiver Program". This highlights support and participation by military veterans, their spouses, and young entrepreneurs.
  As of December 30, 2025, there were a total of 5,199 veteran-owned businesses registered in West Virginia and a total of 4,344 businesses owned by young entrepreneurs under the age of 30.
• Annual Report Compliance Outreach
  Nearly 155,000 businesses were reminded of the June 30th annual report deadline. Towards the end of the reporting period, a new outreach effort for the Office was tested with more than 75,000 reminder calls. The campaign was very successful as reflected by a huge uptick in filing and emphasized the Office's dedication to compliance in support of WV businesses maintaining corporate good standing across the state.
• Customer Support & Business Guidance
  The Business Division handled 8,438 customer interactions including phone, in-person, and virtual engagements in an effort to assist entrepreneurs and business owners in navigating filing requirements and maintaining corporate status.

Innovation in Service Delivery

• Award-Winning AI Chatbot “SOLO” Launched
  The WV Secretary of State's Office and the WV One Stop Business Center introduced “SOLO” (Single Online Location), West Virginia’s first AI-powered chatbot. SOLO offers 24/7 guidance for business formation, filing annual reports, locating forms, and other services. This tech innovation received international recognition from the International Association of Commercial Administrators.

Staffing, Infrastructure & Awards

• Staff Commendations and Recognition
  With a lean but experienced staff of 49 full-time employees, the WV Secretary of State's Office received praise for exemplary service levels in elections, business registration, licensing, and administrative filings. Secretary Warner publicly credited the experienced staff and an emphasis on transparency for the successful transition and responsive service statewide.
• Election Infrastructure Investment
  Legislative priorities included removing bureaucratic barriers so the Office could more readily secure critical election infrastructure. This priority set the stage for future hardware and software upgrades reflecting a proactive approach to election readiness.
• Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Federal Funding
  The Office also focused on working with county clerks and county commissions on securing federal HAVA funding to assist counties in keeping election equipment updated and secure. In 2025, the WV Secretary of State's Office administered and distributed approximately $272,000 in HAVA election-security grant funding across six counties.
• That funding leveraged an additional $323,362.31 in county-provided matching or equivalent contributions for a combined $595,362.31 investment in election security. The program was designed to direct funding toward priority upgrades including voting system and election equipment improvements, cybersecurity enhancements, and ID printer capabilities to strengthen voter identification access and overall election administration readiness.

Administrative Law Division & Address Confidentiality Program

• The Administrative Law Division facilitated efficient rule-making processes for state agencies, ensuring the timely submission, review, and publication of administrative rules. During 2025, there were 191 new or amended rules that went into effect. Each rule type has multiple filings that must be made throughout the cycle, resulting in the processing of nearly 700 accepted rule filings.
• The Ad Law Division also managed the receipt and public display of 2,476 open governmental meeting notices.
• The Address Confidentiality Program expanded outreach efforts to increase the program’s accessibility by offering virtual trainings of Application Assistants. This effort resulted in registering additional application assistants in 12 different counties throughout the State allowing the program to provide vital protections to additional households in need of personal safety through confidentiality measures administered by the WV Secretary of State's Office.

Investigations Division

• A total of 208 cases were investigated in 2025 based on credible complaints made to the Office: 10 Charity Cases; 106 Election Cases; 28 Notary Cases; 61 Business Cases; and 3 Private Investigator/Security Guard Cases.
• Those 208 cases spanned investigations into 43 counties. The counties with the highest number of cases were Kanawha (36), Berkeley (22), and Cabell (11).
• 10 Referrals were made to county prosecuting attorneys. There were 4 indictments; 2 criminal complaints; 2 convictions; and 1 pretrial diversion secured in 2025.

WV Liaison for the 2030 U.S. Census

• The WV Secretary of State’s Office serves as a lead agency for the 2030 U.S. Census and GIS boundary coordination. Appointed as the U.S. Census liaison by the West Virginia Legislature and the Governor’s Office, we organized and built the foundation for a multi-year statewide initiative by establishing workflows, processes, documentation requirements, and communication channels with municipalities, county clerks, and other local elected officials to ensure accurate boundary maintenance, consistent submissions, and reliable coordination across jurisdictions to ensure an efficient, fair, and accurate redistricting process.

Commitment to Fiscal Responsibility and Transparency

• Under Secretary Warner's leadership, the WVSOS Finance Department played a critical role in supporting the mission and daily operations of the Office by ensuring fiscal integrity, transparency, and compliance across all financial activities. Throughout the year, the department managed complex financial operations including budget development and oversight, revenue tracking, grant management, procurement, payroll, and benefits coordination. A strong emphasis was placed on accuracy, accountability, and adherence to state and federal requirements, ensuring public funds were managed responsibly and efficiently.
• In addition to core financial functions, the department focused on strengthening internal controls and improving operational processes. This included the development and refinement of standard operating procedures, enhanced training for staff, and proactive identification and correction of process gaps. These efforts improved consistency, reduced risk, and increased efficiency across financial and administrative workflows. The Finance team also worked closely with internal divisions and external partners to support interagency collaboration and timely financial reporting.
• The division's commitment to fiscal responsibility was further demonstrated through excellence in procurement. Richard Stricklen, Procurement Officer within the Finance Division, was recognized as Procurement Specialist of the Year with NIGP, an achievement that reflects the division’s dedication to ethical purchasing practices, cost-effective decision-making, and strict adherence to procurement standards. This recognition underscores the division's ongoing focus on safeguarding public resources while delivering high-quality service. And, Richard is now the West Virginia nominee to the national procurements specialist of the year to be awarded in 2026!

MEDIA SUMMARY:

A chronological history of the accomplishments outlined herein as well as expanded information on those items can be found HERE.

Secretary Warner’s first year in office demonstrates a multifaceted approach in enhancing election integrity, driving civic engagement, supporting entrepreneurship, and modernizing service delivery. With strategic legislative wins, award‑winning technology, robust outreach, and staff-driven excellence, the Office has strengthened democratic participation and economic vitality across West Virginia in 2025.