More than 250,000 Kansas voters are listed as “Inactive” because their addresses cannot be verified, but they can still vote without address verification, according to investigator and researcher Earl Glynn in his latest report.
Glynn says the issue of inactive voters is not just a Kansas problem, but it is increasing in The Sunflower State:
“The Kansas voter file from May 4 has slightly more than 2 million voters, with 273,000 tagged with status “inactive” — about 13.6%.
“The federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) calls voters “inactive” when the post office cannot deliver mail to them. The public should be outraged that “inactive” actually means “invalid address” voter. This is a problem throughout the country.
“So, in Kansas today there are about 273,000 potential voters that have unverifiable mailing addresses but can vote without verification of their true current address.
“The “inactive” tag starts the slow purge process. This current high number of inactive voters is “good” because voters must be tagged as “inactive,” and then miss two federal elections (which can take 2 to 4 years), before they can be purged.
Glynn lists the five counties most effective at reducing the number of inactive voters with under 1%: Ellsworth, Hamilton, Logan, Stanton, and Wilson.
At the other end of the spectrum are the counties with the highest percentage of inactive voters compared to total voters, more than 25%: Finney, Ford, Labette, Linn, and Seward.
Counties comment on efforts to remove inactive voters
We contacted all the highest- and lowest-ranking counties in the Glynn Study. Of their county clerks, we asked the “Highs” what steps they are taking in reducing their inactive rolls, and of the “Lows” we asked how they did it, and what advice to other counties they would offer for improvement:
Dori Munyan is with Finney County:
“Finney County follows all voter list maintenance requirements established by Kansas law and the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office. Voters are designated as inactive through processes prescribed by state and federal law, typically when election mail is returned undeliverable or there is other evidence that a voter may no longer reside at their registered address.
“Inactive status does not remove a voter from the registration rolls, nor does it prevent an eligible voter from voting. If an inactive voter updates their registration, votes, or otherwise confirms their address, their status is returned to active.
“Our office conducts ongoing voter registration maintenance throughout the year as required by law. We are not undertaking any special initiative related to inactive voters prior to the upcoming primary election beyond our normal statutory responsibilities and procedures, though we do encourage voters via social media and any chance we get to check and update their voter registration.
“As I’m sure you’re aware, the number of inactive voters in a county can be influenced by many factors, including population mobility, seasonal residents, college students, military voters, and how frequently voters participate in elections.”
Hamilton County’s Angie Moser:
“I think our biggest advantage is just being a smaller populated county where one or both of us in the clerk’s office know just about everyone – so when we hear that someone has moved out of state or the county, we send them a confirmation card. We have also had a good response to our annual NCOA (National Change of Address) mailings. Can’t really say we have any advice or secrets to give the other counties. We have one polling place in Hamilton County, so I feel lucky to not have to deal with multiple polling places and having to find numerous election workers!”
Kayla Busch is Clerk of Wilson County:
“We do a yearly mailer to all registered voters as well as follow Kansas Election laws to keep our voter rolls accurate. My advice is simple: public service, do your best to get into contact with them after your research.”
Debbie Cox represents Ford County and its extensive bilingual population:
“I try my best to reach out by radio, both English and Spanish, newspaper, our websites and Facebook to get the word out on voting. I have set up booths at public events to hand out what is on the ballot and when the elections are, as well as when we start early voting. I have two evening voting days and a Saturday to vote, as well as starting two weeks before election day. I post in the elevators in our building when we are early voting so the public can see it when they come in to pay for tags and taxes. I take things to the public library in town to get the word out on when the election is and when we start in-office early voting. I also work with the city and have them put things out on their website and Facebook about early voting. I and the city let them know there is free transportation from the city to the polls and to early voting. We place that information on everything and have it on the bus service. All of this is done in both English and Spanish.”
Some clerks responding cited instructions received from the Office of the Secretary of State as their guidance on the inactive voter issue: Whitney Temple is its spokesperson:
“Kansas County Election Officials have a variety of tools available to maintain an accurate voter registration list. Counties update the voter registration list daily throughout the year. Some new tools have been made available to counties due to recent changes in Kansas law and administrative policies at the federal level.
“Records are removed immediately due to death, felony conviction, and information from the voter.
“A voter is moved to inactive status when a local election office sends a confirmation notice to a voter because:
- The election office received notice from USPS that the voter no longer lives at the voter registration address
- The election office has determined the voter has had no contact with the election office by voting, signing a petition or updating voter registration information.
“A confirmation notice is sent to the voter by the election office, asking the voter to confirm their status. Once the voter is moved to inactive status, the election office must wait for two consecutive general elections before the voter registration record is cancelled and removed from the voter registration list. This time is required by both state and federal law. Only the voter can move the record from inactive status to active by contacting their local election office and providing updated information or confirming existing information.
“A variety of factors can affect the number of inactive voters per county. A county with a large population of short-term residents [i.e. post-secondary institutions, military installations, temporary employment, etc.] is more likely to have a higher number of inactive voters. Also, the timing of county-wide list maintenance activities will affect the number of inactive voters at any given point in time.”
The primary election in Kansas is August 4th.