Yesterday, Governor Stitt and state election officials released a statement about election security and the state's efforts to maintain accurate voter rolls. While accurate, the way the Governor presented the data has caused concern, so we want to clear up a few things. Oklahoma did not purge 453K voters this week. The way this has been presented made some people believe this was a recent purge, however, the truth is that 453K is the total number of voters who were removed from 2021 to present. Voter list maintenance is done monthly, and voters may be removed from voter rolls for many reasons - often because they've moved out of state, died, or became ineligible for some reason. Some voters are removed because they have not voted in many years (more on that below). Voter list maintenance is good and normal. Every state is required to maintain a clean & accurate voter list, and it's an enormous task. Oklahoma currently has nearly 2.4 million registered voters, but that number changes every single day. Voters are constantly moving within the state and between states, voters die, change their name, and change their party affiliation. Some voters become ineligble due to felony convictions and others regain their eligibility once they complete their sentences. And some voters become inactive because they do not participate for a long period of time. It's a constantly changing list, and keeping it as current as possible is good for everyone. When does list maintenance occur? The Oklahoma State Election Board does list maintenance on an ongoing basis and publishes monthly reports with details about how many voters were added, removed, and updated. You can view the August report here. What about "inactive" voters? State and federal laws require the State Election Board to contact voters who have not voted in a while. In Oklahoma, a voter is considered "inactive" if they have not voted in four general election cycles - in other words, if they have not voted in any election for 8 consecutive years. Here's how it works: In the year after a general election, the state will send the address confirmation to voters who haven’t cast a ballot in either of the last two general elections or any state or local elections in that 4-year time period. If the voter doesn’t respond within 60 days of receiving the letter, they are put on “inactive status” but are still registered and are still able to vote . The voter can regain their active status at any time by voting in any election or updating their voter registration information. If the voter, while on inactive status, doesn’t participate in an election for two more general election...
