Barb Berggoetz

barb.berggoetz@indystar.com

More than 696,400 registered voters in Indiana are now considered inactive, due to the state’s voter list update.

But those voters will still be able to vote in elections through the federal election in 2016 before being removed from the voter poll lists, according to Secretary of State Connie Lawson.

If they do not vote in any election prior to January 2016, county voter registration offices will remove their records from poll lists.

Two federal election cycles, or up to four years, must pass before a county may remove an inactive voter from a list. August 6th was the federal deadline for counties to process data from the voter list refresh before the November 2014 election.

The secretary of state’s election division started the voter “refresh” process this summer in an attempt to purge the poll lists of outdated and inaccurate registrations that were bloating the poll lists and leading to deflated voter turnout numbers.

In June, 755,848 postcards were mailed to Hoosiers voters asking them to update their voter registration information, after more than 4.4 million postcards were mailed to all Hoosier voters in May.

Nearly 47,500 voters returned the postcards by updating their voter registrations by the July 24 due date.

“We’ve been able to identify 731,585 records that either needed updating or were no longer valid,” said Secretary of State Connie Lawson in a statement. “By updating these records or adding them to the inactive list, we are one step closer to getting a more accurate picture of voter turnout and protecting the integrity of our elections.”

Lawson said that the process will help get a more accurate view of voter participation in future elections.

If the voter registrations moved to the inactive list were excluded from the overall number of registered voters for the May primary, Lawson said, actual turnout would have been more than 17 percent, instead of 13 percent statewide. In the 2012 general election, Indiana would have had more than 71 percent voting, instead of 58 percent, she estimated.

The secretary of state’s office encourages all voters to check their voter registration information online at www.indianavoters.com or at their local county clerk’s office and update their information, if needed.

Voters may contact the non-partisan Hoosier Voter Hotline in the secretary of state’s office with questions at 1-866-461-8683 or email sos@sos.in.gov.

Call Star reporter Barb Berggoetz at (317) 444-6294. Follow her on Twitter @barbberg.