Thousands of South Carolina voters marked as ‘inactive’ following registration check

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) — Nearly 170,000 South Carolinians who have not voted since 2020 have been marked as “inactive” on the state’s voter rolls after they failed to verify their registration information, according to election officials.

The State Election Commission (SEC) mailed address confirmation cards in April to more than 191,000 registered voters — about 5% of the state’s nearly 3.5 million registered voters — who had not participated in an election or updated their registration information in the past four years.

Voters were asked to confirm their address on the cards and mail them back to the election office within 90 days.

“The business of running elections doesn’t end on Election Day,” said SEC Executive Director Howie Knapp, calling the process a “critical tool” to ensure accurate and up-to-date voter rolls.

“It’s one of the many ways we safeguard the integrity of our elections and ensure every eligible South Carolinian can vote with confidence,” he added.

Officials said 168,000 voters had been made inactive as of July 1 because they either did not respond within the given timeframe, their card returned as undeliverable, or they confirmed that they are no longer in the state.

Those marked as inactive are still eligible to vote, but must reconfirm their address before participating in future elections. Inactive voters stay on the list for two general election cycles before being officially removed.

Another 23,000 voters maintained active voter status after confirming their registration information was correct, according to officials.

The next statewide elections in South Carolina will be held in November 2026. You can verify that your registration is up to date on scvotes.gov.