The day in which Putnam voters were grouped with those of Kanawha, Logan, Lincoln, Mason and Jackson Counties for the purpose of electing members to the House of Delegates is almost over. Gone are Delegate Districts 13, 14, 15, 22 and 38. New are single-delegate districts 18, 19, 20 and 21.

With the exception of about one thousand voters in the Fraziers Bottom/Pliny area, all county residents will be voting to elect delegates from Putnam County to represent Putnam County. The Fraziers Bottom/Pliny voters, previously in the 14th Delegate District, are now in District 18. These voters will continue to see listings of House of Delegate candidates from Mason County on their ballots.

District 19 is mostly the area north of the Kanawha River. District 20 is a portion of Teays Valley and the areas near the southern side of the Kanawha. District 21 encompasses areas south of and around Hurricane.

The new delegate district boundaries were established using census data which ignored existing precinct boundaries. Consequently, some county voters will discover that they have been moved into a different precinct. Because of the manner in which data was collected for the census, some residents in the Mill Creek Crossing subdivision in Teays Valley will be in different precincts and vote in different delegate districts.

The boundaries of most precincts will be the same. Precinct boundary changes will be necessary everywhere the new delegate district lines divide a precinct. New precinct lines will likely result in some changes to the county magisterial district lines.

County Clerk Brian Wood will be sending new voter registration cards to all registered voters affected by a precinct switch. A precinct change can result in a change of the magisterial district in which a resident resides and influence decisions to seek election to the Board of Education or to the County Commission.

Wood will inform voters of changes prior to the registration for candidacy in the May 2022 Primary in January.