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Oklahoma
Posted: Jan 22, 2025 9:24 AMUpdated: Jan 22, 2025 9:36 AM
State Election Board Conducts Routine Voter List Maintenance
Tom Davis
The State Election Board completed its routine, statutorily-mandated, biennial voter list maintenance on Friday, January 17 and Tuesday, January 21. The process removed 129,680 inactive voter registrations and 2,242 duplicate voter registrations from Oklahoma’s voter rolls.
The removal of inactive and duplicate voter registrations is a thorough, multi-step process the State Election Board is required by law to conduct every two years following the General Election.
State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax said the law that mandates the current voter list maintenance process has been in place for decades and includes clear guidelines for which voter registrations must be removed.
"The voter list maintenance process is not a new. In fact, it’s been conducted in essentially the same manner since the mid-1990’s. It is a nonpartisan, routine process and is a necessary part of election administration. It’s also required by law,” Ziriax said.
According to Ziriax, maintaining clean and updated voter rolls protects our election system by making it far more difficult for someone to use outdated voter lists to attempt to commit fraud or disrupt elections.
Duplicate registrations that were deleted during the most recent voter list maintenance process matched newer registrations by the same person at a new address.
Inactive registrations that were removed were for voters who failed to confirm their address in 2021 and then had no voter activity through the 2024 General Election.
State law lists seven reasons why a voter may receive an Address Confirmation Notice. Some of the most common reasons include having a first-class mailing from the Election Board returned as “undeliverable,” being identified as a potential duplicate of a voter registration in another county or state, or having no voter activity for an extended period of time.
The removal of inactive voters is a clearly defined and lengthy process.
First, a voter is mailed an Address Confirmation Notice for one of seven reasons required by law.
Next, the voter must confirm their address. If the voter fails to confirm their address, then the voter is designated “inactive.” (An “inactive” voter is still a registered voter and is still eligible to vote. A voter is returned to “active” status automatically by voting or by making changes to their voter registration.”)
Finally, a voter who is designated as “inactive” for failing to confirm their address can only be removed from the voter rolls if there is not voter activity for two consecutive General Election cycles after becoming inactive.
In addition to the biennial, statutory voter list maintenance of inactive and duplicate voter registrations, county election boards continually update the voter rolls by removing voters who are deceased, have registered in another state or county, have surrendered their driver license in another state, who are convicted of a felony, or as otherwise required by law.
Oklahoma voters are strongly encouraged to verify their voter registration each year and make any necessary updates. Voters can verify their registration and make changes using the OK Voter Portal.
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