Michigan prepares to purge inactive voters from registration lists
More than 318,000 names of inactive voters are scheduled to be removed from Michigan's voter rolls in April.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson made that announcement in a press release Tuesday, citing a "careful and active voter list maintenance process" that has purged more than 1.1 million out-of-state registrations during the past six years.
Michigan has about 7.3 million active registered voters; and a total voting age population of about 7.9 million residents.
The state's Qualified Voter File database has about 577,000 inactive registrations that are scheduled to be canceled; along with an additional 600,000 voter registrations belonging to people who have not cast a ballot in the last six years and therefore may have died or moved out of the area. State and federal law requires the inactive registrations to remain in the QVF list until reliable information has been received such as election mail being returned as undeliverable.
Michigan also participates in the Electronic Registration Information Center, a national network where member states notify each other if a voter has recently registered in their state.
Federal law then requires that the voter receives notice and remain on the voter rolls for two federal election cycles – which is up to four years because congressional elections take place every two years. If no response is received or attempt to vote is made, officials can then cancel the voter's registration. The notices help catch people who might still be interested in voting even if they had not done so in recent years.
One of the steps the SOS staff took that contributed to the pending list was following up on election mail sent to every registered voter during 2020. The mailings that were returned by the post office as undeliverable triggered the waiting period of two federal election cycles. Those inactive voters also received notice prior to the 2022 general election.
In the meantime, the state clerks receive information daily from the Social Security Death Index, and use other information such as obituaries or death notifications from the voter's family, to remove individuals who have died from the active voter rolls.
Voters who think their registration is slated for cancellation in April can email ElectionData@michigan.gov to request a copy of the cancellation list. Listed voters have until March 28 to review and update their registration prior to cancellation.
Voters can also check their registration status online at Michigan.gov/Vote or by contacting their local clerk.
Michigan voters whose registrations are cancelled can re-register at any time, including up to and on Election Day.