Almost 260 inactive voters were purged from Crittenden County’s voter roll today, lowering the number of registered voters to about 6,400. The purge of 259 local voters was part of a statewide action to clean up voter rolls in the state, removing 127,000 ineligible registrations.
Federal and state laws require the purge, which was conducted by the State Board of Elections in Frankfort. Under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, states are required to “conduct a general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove the names of ineligible voters from the official list of eligible voters.” The Commonwealth’s voter rolls have not been purged since 2015.
No registration is removed under this initiative solely for a person’s failure to vote. There is a well-defined process to remove ineligible voters. For a registration to be purged, a voter must be proven to have been inactive over the course of at least two federal elections.
The process is initiated when the State Board of Elections is notified by the U.S. Postal Service or a county clerk’s office that a voter has moved to a new address not shown on their registration. The voter is then given a chance to keep their name on a voter roll.
The Board sends an identified voter a returnable, forwardable, correctable, postage-paid card so they may update their registration or simply vote in the next election in order to be considered active. If the voter does not cast a ballot in the two federal election cycles after the postcards were mailed, their registration is removed.
Since 2011, the State Board of Elections has properly removed nearly a half-million voters. That also includes routine and regular maintenance of the rolls that includes removing deceased voters or voters who have requested their registration be removed.
To check your voter registration or update it, visit GoVote.ky.gov. You can still register to vote for the first time or update your registration by April 18 and cast a ballot in the May primary.
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