Inactive voters will be removed from list unless they update status
Almost 1,100 Escambia County, Ala., registered voters will be subject to having their names removed from the voter rolls unless they update their registration with the board of registrars.
The Escambia County Commission approved an agreement during Monday's meeting with the Alabama Secretary of State's office for the voter file maintenance, which will be paid by the state.
Since 1997 each county's board of registrars are mandated to conduct the voter maintenance by January following the election. It occurs every four years.
If a voter has not voted in the past two consecutive presidential elections, their name will be purged from the voters' list.
The motion approved Monday by the commission also allows the secretary of state's office to send a non-forwardable postcard to every registered voter in in county. If the voter does not respond within 90 days the voter will be labeled inactive.
A list of those 1,089 voters in Escambia County who may be purged from the list appears on Pages 10 and 11 inside today's Tri-City Ledger.
If a voter feels his or her name is on the list incorrectly, they can call the board of registrars and 251-867-0243 or go to room 204 inside the courthouse in Brewton to update their voter registration.
If a person's name appears on that list and they do not update their voter registration information by the close of business on Jan. 6, 2021, their name will be removed from the voter rolls and they will be required to to register for future elections.
County Commissioner Karean Reynolds had concerns over people's names being removed from the voters list and voted against the motion to enter into an agreement with the secretary of state's office to proceed.
After the meeting, Reynolds said he voted no because he didn't see people simply people's erased from the voter rolls.
“The past few voters list I've seen, I saw people who haven't voted in 10 years,” Reynolds told the commission.
Reynolds said he supports the cleaning up of the voter rolls if people are given an opportunity to update their information and encourages people to look at the list and respond to the post cards.
