PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — The state has removed more than 60,000 inactive voter registrations from its database over the past few months, according to R.I. Secretary of State Gregg Amore.
The state’s voter list undergoes maintenance from time to time, which Amore said “is an integral part of election integrity and security.”
“In order to best serve the voting public, it’s essential that we have accurate elections data,” Amore said. “That means making a consistent effort to ensure our voter lists are up-to-date.”
In total, Amore said 60,619 inactive voters have been removed from the list since November.
Amore said typically, a voter’s registration becomes inactive when official elections mail is returned to the sender as “undeliverable.” If the inactive voter doesn’t cast a ballot in one of the next two federal elections, Amore said their registration can legally be removed from the list.
The state was alerted to a spike in inactive voters during the 2020 General Election, during which all registered voters automatically received a mail ballot application.
Amore said this led to an increase in the amount of election mail that bounced back to the state.
Those that didn’t vote in either the 2020 or 2022 elections were notified and their registrations removed from the list.
Anyone interested in registering to vote or updating their information can do so online.
