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Elections Defined: A Look at Voter Registration List Maintenance

Good list maintenance helps with efficiency and accuracy throughout the election process.

By Wendy Underhill  |  June 20, 2024

Elections Defined Video Series

This series of short videos features NCSL Director of Elections and Redistricting Wendy Underhill talking about some of the key steps of election administration you may not have heard of—from ballot curing to voter list maintenance to what it means to be a poll worker, and everything in between. View the complete series. 

Voter registration lists are a state’s way of keeping track of their voters. Lists are never perfect though. Why? Because people move to new places, age into voting, and, sadly, some pass away.

Very few voters notify their election officials when they move out of town. So, election officials do their best to keep up with the changes following federal and state laws.

They may check with the U.S. Postal Service for changes of address or the Social Security Administration for death records. The list of places to check goes on and on. It’s worth noting, though, that it’s not illegal to be on a voter list in two places. It’s just illegal to vote twice.

Good list maintenance helps with efficiency and accuracy throughout the election process.

Ready for more election administration answers? View the complete series for info on the topics below. Still have questions? More details can be found on these and other topics through NCSL’s election resources.

  • Ballot Duplication.
  • Ballot Collecting.
  • Ballot Curing. 
  • Provisional Ballots.
  • Pre-Processing Ballots.
  • Poll workers vs. Poll Watchers.
  • Post-election Audits.
  • Canvassing and Certification.
  • Results Reporting.
  • Voter ID.
  • Voter Registration List Maintenance.
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