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October 3, 2008

Inactive voters purged from list

Deadline near to register for November election

By M. Scott Carter

If you haven't voted in the past eight years, you're history.

You're purged.

You're removed.

And you are no longer on the rolls.

At least until you register again.

With the presidential election quickly approaching, Cleveland County Election Board officials say more than 6,600 voters have been purged from the county voter rolls because they haven't voted in two general elections and haven't responded to mailings from the election board.

"You've have to have missed two general elections," said Paula Roberts, Cleveland County's election board secretary. "After that, then we do a mailing and the voter goes to an 'inactive' status."

Voters can move back to active status by voting in any election, she said.

After eight years, those voters are purged from the election board's list.

"It takes a total of eight years to get removed from the list," she said. "But the voter can always register again."

In Cleveland County, Roberts said, most of those purged from the voter rolls are college students.

"Students will move here, register, then they graduate and move on," Roberts said. "They forget to change their address or registration, and eventually they go off the rolls."

And while Roberts acknowledges that, yearly, several thousand voters are removed, she also notes that this year more than twice that nunber have registered to vote.

"We always see this in a presidential election year," she said. "But this year registration started earlier. We're seeing even more of an increase than what we usually do."

Last year, Roberts said the election board processed about 13,000 new or changed registrations.

"This year, we're kind of afraid to look," she quipped. "We're waiting until after registration closes. But we know it's a lot."

Voters have until Friday, Oct. 10, to register to vote or to change their registration.

"There's still a little time," she said. "But if they are unsure, they should call our office or stop by."

For more information about voter registration, call the Cleveland County Election Board at 366-0210. Voters also can check their status -- and even download the registration form -- at www.clevelandcountyelectionboard.com.

M. Scott Carter 366-3545 scarter@normantranscript.com

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