North Carolina State Board of Elections Sends Letters To Over 241,000 Voters With Unvalidated Identification Numbers

This week, the North Carolina State Board of Elections announced that it was sending letters to over 241,000 North Carolina voters with incomplete registration data. The letter encourages these voters to update their voter registration with their driver’s license or social security numbers, or by ensuring the name on their voter registration matches other official government records. Voters who wish to update their name on their voter registration should contact their county board of elections. 

“This is just another way we are working to have the most accurate voter rolls in North Carolina history,” said Sam Hayes, executive director of the State Board of Elections. “This effort does not affect the eligibility of any of these voters to cast ballots in our elections.” 

Importantly, the new effort in no way impacts a voter registration’s status. During elections, affected voters will be asked to update their information at their voting site. They will still vote regular ballots even if they do not update their information, unless there is another reason they must vote a provisional ballot.  

This effort is separate from the Registration Repair Project, launched by the State Board last year. That project aims to collect ID numbers from voters who lack them altogether in the voter database. 

This data is important to help North Carolina comply with the Help America Vote Act, which is the federal legislation that promotes access to the ballot box while preventing noncitizen voting.