West Virginia Executive Spring/Summer 2020 | Page 75

the SBDC’s services and resources to business owners, including
free business coaching, workshops, loan programs and
available tax incentives.
To encourage young people under the age of 30 to stay and
open businesses in the state, as well as support new career paths
for veterans, the Young Entrepreneur waiver and the Boots to
Business waiver have been implemented to waive the annual
business registration fee.
“It’s more of an invitation and a desire that we want you
here,” says Warner. “We want those good ideas and those
energetic people to start their businesses in West Virginia.”
Every Voter Counts
When Warner took office in 2016, there was a national
discussion taking place about election meddling and hacking.
While new protocols have been set in place to ensure West
Virginia’s election system remains secure, Warner’s office has
also developed an educational presentation on Russian election
meddling, featuring real-world examples of misinformation,
disinformation and commonly used social media tactics.
Warner has used the presentation to educate West Virginians
on vetting the information they see online. He has also taken it
around the nation to inform other Americans. In addition, his
office has worked with the West Virginia Legislature to invest
more than $14 million in new election equipment and information
technology security programs throughout the state.
The funding, nearly half of which was provided through the
federal Help America Vote Act, was distributed between 23
West Virginia counties for equipment purchases, technology
upgrades and Americans with Disabilities Act improvements
to polling locations.
Along with keeping West Virginia elections secure, Warner
has also made it a goal to ensure all citizens can vote in these
elections—especially those serving overseas. He implemented
the nation’s first voting application in 2018 for military voters
and others who are living outside of the country. The inspiration
behind this initiative came from Warner’s experience in Afghanistan,
where he saw firsthand the hardships those who serve
face in sending and receiving mail, let alone absentee ballots.
“There was one, six-month period when I was in Afghanistan
where our mail either came under attack or the helicopters
turned around,” he recalls. “For six months, I went without
being able to mail something back to the states.”
The electronic application was piloted in 2018 and incorporated
into the general election, allowing those overseas a much
simpler and more secure way to ensure their vote was counted. In
March, Warner’s office chose the mobile voting platform Omni-
Ballot Online to be used during the state’s primary election
to provide accessible solutions to veterans and citizens with
physical disabilities. The platform was used by 180 voters in
26 countries in West Virginia’s 2020 primary election.
When the state’s traditional May primary was moved to June
this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Warner immediately
moved to offer absentee voting to all registered voters, and
more than 250,000 people requested mail-in ballots.
“You often hear every vote counts,” he says. “We’re sending
the message out to people in West Virginia that every voter
counts. We want to hear from every one of you.” •
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