Press Release: DCBOE Releases List of Inactive Voter Records

News Release — DC Board of Elections

Contact: Rachel E. Coll

September 24, 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an ongoing effort to maintain the integrity and accuracy of its voter registry, the District of Columbia Board of Elections (DCBOE) today published a list of 30,391 inactive voter records.

After each general election, as part of its statutory biennial address confirmation program, DCBOE mails a non-forwardable postcard to each registered voter who did not confirm their address by voting in the last election. If the United States Postal Service returns the postcard as undeliverable or with an address that is outside of the District, the voter’s record is made inactive. The inactive voter is then sent a forwardable notice outlining the steps that the voter must take to remain eligible to vote.

If the inactive voter does not respond to this notice and does not vote before the second general election that occurs after the date of the notice, the voter shall be removed from the voter registry. Each of the inactive voters on the list meets the criteria for removal. Accordingly, they may be removed from the District’s voter registry in accordance with law.

DCBOE fulfilled all legal requirements of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) with respect to these records, and public notice of their removal is not required. However, DCBOE is publishing the list on its website to encourage individuals whose names appear on the list to update their voter registration if they are, in fact, still eligible to vote in the District.

The list [available here] contains the name, ward number, zip code, registration year, year of last ballot cast, and year made inactive for each previously registered voter who:

• Has not voted in any primary, special, or general election in the District since on or before November 2012; AND
• Has not responded to notices mailed after the November 2012 General Election; AND
• Has not submitted a voter registration update notification to DCBOE or any other District voter registration agency since the November 2012 General Election; AND
• Has had notices to their address of residence returned to DCBOE by the U.S. Postal Service as undeliverable.

DCBOE encourages the individuals whose names appear on the list and who wish to participate in District elections to update their registration by no later than Tuesday, October 15, 2019, the date on which inactive records will be removed from the voter registry. After that date, these individuals will need to re-register to participate in District elections.

District residents may register to vote in person at DCBOE’s office, online at www.dcboe.org, through DCBOE’s mobile app at Vote4DC (iOS and Android), and by mail (to download the application, click here).

The District of Columbia Board of Elections is an independent agency of the District of Columbia Government responsible for the administration of elections, ballot access, and voter registration.

#