Reaction & Commentary
North Carolina has removed over 700,000 individuals from its registered voter list, officials say.
The State Board of Elections announced Thursday that 747,000 people have been removed from voter rolls in the last 20 months due to ineligibility.
“The county boards follow careful policies to ensure that only ineligible records are removed, not those of eligible voters,” the Board of Elections said in a press release.
Absentee ballots are prepared to be mailed at the Wake County Board of Elections in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
“Meanwhile, newly eligible voters are constantly being added to the registration rolls in our growing state,” the board added. “Currently, North Carolina has nearly 7.7 million registered voters.”
A common reason for removal from voter rolls was moving residences — either within the state without notifying election officials or to another state altogether.
Other removed individuals failed to vote in the last two federal elections and did not respond to follow-up notifications from the government seeking to confirm their registration.
A voter casts their ballot at a polling station inside the Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina. (Allison Joyce/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Death, felony conviction, requests to be removed, and lack of U.S. citizenship were also listed as reasons for dropping individuals from voter rolls.
The Marist Poll released Thursday finds that Harris and Trump are tied at 49% among likely voters in North Carolina who were asked which candidate they were leaning toward. Of those polled who have made up their minds, 91% said they strongly support their choice.
North Carolina last voted for a Democratic president in 2008, when then-Sen. Barack Obama won the state by 0.3 points, or 14,177 votes.
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North Carolina sent out absentee ballots to military and overseas citizens ahead of the September 20 deadline. Other absentee ballots were sent by September 24 to voters who requested ballots by mail. Early voting begins October 17. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
Trump pulled out a convincing 3.7 point win in 2016, but that margin shrank to 1.3 points against President Biden in 2020.
North Carolina began absentee voting for registered voters on Tuesday, having begun sending absentee ballots to military and overseas voters on Friday. Applicants do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot.
The state must receive a ballot application by Oct. 29, and that ballot must be delivered to county officials by Nov. 5.
Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo, Rémy Numa, Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
