Over 100,000 inactive, duplicate voters purged from Oklahoma election database

The Oklahoma State Election Board completed a state-required maintenance of its voter list earlier this week, removing over 100,000 registrations from the state voter rolls.

How many registrations were removed from the Oklahoma voter rolls?

According to the board, the process removed 129,680 inactive voter registrations and 2,242 duplicate voter registrations. The process is mandated to be repeated every two years according to Oklahoma law.

The board said the removal of inactive and duplicate voter registrations is a thorough, multi-step process to be conducted following each General Election.

State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax said the law that mandates the current voter list maintenance process has been in place for decades and includes guidelines for which voter registrations must be removed.

"The voter list maintenance process is not new," Ziriax said. "In fact, it’s been conducted in essentially the same manner since the mid-1990s. It is a nonpartisan, routine process and is a necessary part of election administration."

Why does the state conduct maintenance on its voter rolls?

According to Ziriax, maintaining clean and updated voter rolls protects our election system by making it more difficult for someone to use outdated voter lists to attempt to defraud or disrupt elections.

Why would someone be removed from the voter rolls?

Ziriax said duplicate registrations that were deleted during the most recent voter list maintenance process matched newer registrations by the same person at a new address.

Inactive registrations were removed for voters who failed to confirm their address in 2021, and later had no voter activity through the 2024 General Election.

State law lists seven reasons why a voter may receive an Address Confirmation Notice.

Some of the most common reasons include having a first-class mailing from the Election Board returned as “undeliverable,” being identified as a potential duplicate of a voter registration in another county or state or having no voter activity for an extended period of time.

How are inactive voters identified?

The board said a possibly inactive voter is mailed an Address Confirmation Notice, and must confirm their address. If the voter fails to confirm their address, then the voter is designated as “inactive.”

The board said an “inactive” voter is still a registered voter and is eligible to vote. A voter can be returned to “active” status automatically by voting or by making changes to their voter registration.

A voter who is designated as “inactive” for failing to confirm their address can only be removed from the voter rolls if there is no voter activity for two consecutive General Election cycles after becoming inactive.

In addition to the biennial, statutory voter list maintenance of inactive and duplicate voter registrations, county election boards also continually update the voter rolls by removing deceased voters, those who have registered in another state or county, those who have surrendered their driver’s license in another state, those who have been convicted of a felony or as otherwise required by law.

The board said Oklahoma voters are encouraged to verify their voter registration each year and make any necessary updates.

Voters can verify their registration and make changes using the OK Voter Portal.