CHARLESTON, W.Va. — With President Bush and John Kerry likely to return to West Virginia soon, neither will require “loyalty oaths” from those wishing to attend future appearances, officials from both campaigns have pledged.

“We certainly do not. We absolutely will not,” said Amy Shuler Goodwin, communications director for the Kerry campaign. “Everybody is welcome to a John Kerry event.”

Some New Mexico residents were refused tickets to hear Vice President Dick Cheney speak at an event near Albuquerque last week unless they signed an oath that they “endorse George W. Bush for re-election.”

“We don’t have anything like that in West Virginia,” said Mary Diamond, a spokeswoman for the state Bush-Cheney campaign. “I can’t envision that ever happening.”

New Mexico GOP officials say they plan to require signed loyalty pledges at future Bush-Cheney campaign events, saying they are meant to curb demonstrations by anti-Bush activists.

“If we feel our event will get disrupted again, we will use the same method to make sure it’s a positive event,” Republican National Committee spokesman Yier Shi said Aug. 5, defining positive as “without interruption, without debate — just (without) disruption, period.”

Polls show Bush and Kerry, his Democratic opponent, in a dead heat in West Virginia. Bush won the state in 2000, but Democrats maintain a 2-to-1 voter edge over Republicans. Kerry and Bush have both visited the Mountain State five times this year, with the two most recently crossing campaign paths July 31 in Wheeling.

Amid the neck-and-neck race, appearances by the candidates have led to tense incidents here and elsewhere.

During an “official” Bush visit to Charleston for the Fourth of July, two protesters were arrested during the president’s speech at the state Capitol and removed from the events in restraints.

Nicole and Jeff Rank were charged with trespassing after revealing anti-Bush T-shirts. The charge was later dismissed, and Charleston City Council passed a resolution apologizing to the couple.

Democrats, meanwhile, caught flak for relegating protesters to a “free-speech zone” blocked by fences, barricades and razor wire during their national convention last week in Boston.

Though he found the convention an “outstanding success,” a former West Virginia Democratic Party chairman disagreed with its handling of demonstrators.

“The protesters were put basically in a cage under an interstate ramp,” Mike Callaghan said. “I don’t know that that’s the best way to do that. I think we need to be mindful of First Amendment rights as we protect the convention process.”