Every year, election officials purge inactive voters — people who have moved and not participated in two consecutive federal elections or responded to a postcard from the local registrar.
That raises alarms for people like Delegate Shelly Simonds of Newport News, who ended up losing a tied election when her competitor's name was pulled out of a bowl. "We just had 3,000 people in Newport News taken off the rolls, and I didn't hear anything about it. So I guess I am concerned about the process in terms of making sure that everyone is notified and everybody realizes that this is happening because we have a very important election coming up on November 2nd."
Tram Nguyen at Virginia New Majority says the current system of list maintenance its flaws. But she also says it has a number of checks and balances to make sure that people aren't incorrectly removed from the rolls.
But, Nguyen says, the best check is the one voters can do of their own registration.
"I would encourage everyone to make sure your registration is up to date. The state has made it as easy as possible because there's plenty of time right now to do it before the November election."
Click here to check your registration status
One potential fix is same-day registration. That won't happen this year. But next year, for the first time, voters in Virginia will be able to register and vote on the same day for Election 2022.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
