Over 225,000 ineligible voters purged from Kentucky voter rolls

KENTUCKY (FOX 56) — Over 225,000 registered voters have been removed from the Kentucky voter rolls due to inactivity.

Under state and federal laws, the Kentucky State Board of Elections has purged 225,311 ineligible voter registrations.

According to the board, the registrants were inactive for at least two federal elections.

“The State Board of Elections is required by statute to continuously conduct voter list maintenance in the state, and we take this responsibility extremely seriously,” said Karen Sellers, executive director of the state board of elections. “Voters should know that as we conduct these processes, we do so while following strict guidelines established in state and federal law; no voter is ever removed for simply not voting, we are careful not to remove any eligible voters.”

The board of elections said that it’s required to gather change-of-address information and if voters don’t confirm their information, their registration is at risk of being deemed inactive.

“If, for a period of two federal elections, a contacted voter does not respond to one of the multiple postcards they are sent, does not show up to vote, or does not otherwise confirm their information, their registration is purged,” the board explained.

Here’s a look at the purged registrants by party:

• 99,168 registered Democrats
• 95,732 registered Republicans
• 30,411 registered other

“Strong voter turnout depends on public confidence in our election process. The removal of an additional 225,000 individuals from the voter rolls – Republicans, Democrats, and Independents – in compliance with federal and state law should hearten every proponent of fair elections” said Secretary of State Michael Adams, who serves as the chair of the State Board of Elections.

The State Board of Elections reported that over 734,000 inactive voter registrations have been purged since January 2019.

Voters can always check their current registration status here.