Murphy – The number of registered voters in Cherokee County has dropped by about 1,200 people since Nov. 3, and more people are expected to be removed from the voter roll or made inactive in the coming months.
Voter list maintenance is required by both state and federal laws. County boards of elections maintain the list by removing voters who have died, moved or are no longer eligible to vote in the jurisdiction.
“If you move within the county, please contact us with the address change so we can be sure to have the correct precinct,” said Haley Rose, deputy director of elections. “If you move out of Cherokee County, please contact our office so that we can cancel your registration here.”
At the beginning of every odd-numbered year, counties send out an address confirmation mailing to each registered voter who has not voted for a period of two federal elections. These notices must be mailed to voters by April 15.
The Cherokee County Board of Elections office plans to send the notices, or cards, out this week. Rose said 1,620 cards will be mailed, and she expects a majority will go inactive.
For the 2020 general election, there were 6,196 registered voters in Cherokee County who did not vote, while 12,386 did not vote in the 2018 general election.
Voters who do not return the card within 30 days, or those whose mailings are returned by the U.S. Postal Service as undeliverable, will be marked as inactive. Registrations of these voters will be canceled if they do not respond by 2023.
The 1,200 already canceled since November were registrations made inactive two years ago through this process. They have not responded in the last four years.
County boards of elections also regularly maintains its voter roll list through change of address data provided by the U.S. Postal Service, death notifications from the N.C. Department of Health & Human Services and felony conviction records from the state Department of Public Safety as well as U.S. attorneys’ offices.
For details, call 837-6670.