NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Across all of Tennessee's counties, voter registration data is regularly purged from election commission records. Sometimes, it means voters won't be able to cast a ballot. Here's how you can make sure it doesn't happen to you.
Voter registration purging is a part of state law. Local election commissions that are trying to clean their records eliminate registrations from people who are no longer believed to live at their registered addresses. Put more simply, the election commission believes the person has either moved or died.
"Purge means that for some reason we've got the idea from the post office that gives us the idea that you no longer live at the address that you were originally registered at," said Davidson County Election Administrator Jeff Roberts.
Roberts said commissions are not currently purging any registrations. They're not allowed to 90 days before an election due to state law.
However, throughout the year commissions are often investigating returned mail from registered voters who may not live at that address anymore.
When the commission receives the mail, it starts a process to determine where the voter lives. If they can't figure it out, the voter's registration will be purged after two November elections pass. It's a minimum of about two years or more depending on if there's a year without a November ballot.
"For a lot of folks, you go through a big move. Even if it's from Davidson County to Williamson County," said Roberts. "Changing your registration might be the last thing that's on your mind for a while. So, eventually, that postal information catches up. We reach out and we let the voter know we don't think you need to be registered in Davidson County."
If a voter believes they may fall into the category of registrations that could've been purged, there's some steps they can take to make sure they can vote.
One, the voter can visit the GoVoteTN.com website and check their registration under the Voter Registration tab.
Two, the voter can contact their local election commission who will assist them in making sure they're eligible to vote. An election official may ask for someone to update their address, but if your registration has been purged, simply registering again will allow the person to vote.
