Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections
A routine list maintenance, conducted by staff of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, removed almost 750,000 ineligible registrants from the state voter rolls.
The list maintenance process is under state and federal law, which requires removing ineligible voters from official lists and updating the addresses and other relevant data of eligible voters.
From the beginning of 2023 until August 2024, election officials made the routine removal of those who have been inactive for two federal elections, died, moved out of the state, were convicted of a felony, or requested that they be removed from the rolls, according to The News & Observer.
“List maintenance is one of the primary responsibilities of election officials across North Carolina, and we take this responsibility seriously,” Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections, told ABC11. “As we conduct these processes, we also must comply with state and federal laws and be careful not to remove any eligible voters”.
Maintaining the voter registration list is an ongoing process for election officials, with the goal of having the most accurate voter rolls possible, the NCSBE websites states.
The board noted in a release that “the mere presence of ineligible individuals on the rolls does not mean voter fraud will occur. Evidence shows that voting in the name of another is exceedingly rare in North Carolina.”
Just as ineligible registrants are removed from the voter rolls under state law, new eligible voters are also added to the rolls every day.
Eligible voters can register online to vote if they have a North Carolina driver’s license or other NCDMV identification.
Voters can also fill out a paper voter registration application, which can be printed from the State Board’s website: ncsbe.gov.
The voter registration deadline for the general election is Oct. 11, 2024. If a person misses that deadline, they can still register and vote at any early voting site in their county during the early voting period: Oct. 17 through Nov. 2, 2024. A person cannot register on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.
Make sure your registration status is up-to-date with the Voter Search tool.