Elections & terms
voter roll maintenance
The routine work of updating the registration list: removing people who died or moved, and correcting records. Also called list maintenance, and often disputed.
In full
Federal law requires states to make a reasonable effort to keep rolls accurate while forbidding removal for not voting alone. The usual process sends a confirmation notice and removes a nonresponsive voter only after two more federal general elections. Disputes arise over the data used to flag records and over the timing of large purges.
Also written as: list maintenance, purge
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.