The North Carolina State Board of Elections is removing nearly 750,000 names from the voter rolls for eligibility reasons

RALEIGH, NC (WECT) – If you think you’re eligible to vote, it can’t hurt to double check.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections announced Thursday that it has removed 747,274 names from its voter registration list since the start of 2023. The board’s executive director, Karen Brinson Bell, said it is a routine process that occurs every odd-numbered year.

“Maintaining accurate voter rolls is an ongoing part of election administration in North Carolina and every state,” said Brinson Bell. “The idea of ​​maintaining lists is not something we take lightly. “It’s a very methodical process so we can ensure the accuracy of our voter rolls without disenfranchising people who are eligible to vote.” Delete voter registers.”

People were removed from the role for various reasons. The largest percentage of people deported were people who had moved to and registered in a new county within the state. This is to ensure that there are no people who are registered in more than one county. The other largest percentage were people classified as “inactive” who did not vote in the last two federal elections.

The other reasons are listed in the graphic below:

While the total number of deletions may seem large, Brinson Bell says it is consistent with what she has seen in past voting list maintenance processes.

“I’ve been the state elections director for five and a half years,” Brinson Bell said. “So yes, we went through the list maintenance process in those odd years. This is at least consistent with the ratio of distances and the number of registered voters in our state.”

At the time of publication, there are 7.6 million registered voters in the state of North Carolina. Brinson Bell said the number could easily reach 7.7 by the end of voter registration on Oct. 11.

“North Carolina has experienced tremendous population growth,” said Brinson Bell. “And that’s why we’ve seen an increase in voter registration. Additionally, the greatest interest in voter turnout is in a presidential election. We broke a record in 2020. So we’ll see if North Carolinians are just as eager to vote in this very big election.”

If you believe your name could have been removed, Brinson Bell encourages you to check your voter registration status. To do this, click here.

If you are not registered yet, you still have time to do so. Voter registration ends October 11th. However, if you want to vote earlier, you can register on site. Registration is not possible on election day, November 5th. If you are marked “inactive,” poll workers will simply ask you to confirm your address and information when you show up to vote.

Brinson Bell said it was unfortunate that misinformation was being spread about why names were removed from the voter register.

“There is a lot of talk in our state and nationally about how election administration works and how we maintain our voter registration lists,” Brinson Bell said. “I think there’s been a lot of misinformation out there, false narratives and false information,” and really just, you know, sometimes outright bullying about what election administrators are doing to maintain our voter registration lists. We won’t remove people lightly, but we are also very conscientious about how we register people and how they get added to our list.”

She encourages those who have additional questions about the process to read the board’s Guide to Maintaining the North Carolina Voter Registration List.

She also says people can get involved in the election process at any time by attending public meetings, speaking to your county’s board of elections and even volunteering as poll workers.

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