State Board of Elections purges over 225,000 ineligible voters from Kentucky rolls

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky State Board of Elections has purged 225,311 ineligible registrations from the state's voter rolls.

According to a news release, the removed registrations were confirmed to have been inactive for at least two federal elections.

"The State Board of Elections is required by statute to continuously conduct voter list maintenance in the state, and we take this responsibility extremely seriously," Karen Sellers, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said in a news release. "Voters should know that as we conduct these processes, we do so while following strict guidelines established in state and federal law; no voter is ever removed for simply not voting, we are careful not to remove any eligible voters."

According to a news release, states must gather change-of-address information and then conduct a series of postcard mailings to contact voters to confirm up-to-date information. If a contacted voters doesn't respond to one of the multiple postcards they are sent, doesn't show up to vote or confirm their information in the period of two federal elections, their registration is purged.

Kentucky State Board of Elections said 99,168 were Democrats (44%), 95,732 were Republicans (42.5%), and 30,411 (13.5%) were purged from the voter rolls.

"Strong voter turnout depends on public confidence in our election process. The removal of an additional 225,000 individuals from the voter rolls – Republicans, Democrats and Independents – in compliance with federal and state law should hearten every proponent of fair elections," Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, who serves as the chair of the State Board of Elections, said in a news release.

To check your current registration status, click here.

Top stories: