A new rule from the state Bureau of Elections will allow Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to remove more inactive voter registrations from the state’s voter rolls.
Under the rule, Benson’s office will begin the process of removing people from the voter rolls who haven’t voted in the past 20 or more years. They will receive a notice and have two federal election cycles to either confirm their status or vote before being removed from the state’s voter rolls.
In a video message, Benson said the rule will allow her to remove registrations she previously couldn’t.
“Many people who are registered choose not to vote, sometimes for several election cycles. In every election, a few thousand of these inactive voters do show up to vote for the first time in years. But others have moved away or passed away, and despite our repeated attempts to change Michigan law, we just didn't have the legal tools to cancel those dormant, inactive records,” she said.
According to Benson, her office has identified more than 2.1 million inactive registrations since 2019. 1.5 million have already been canceled and another 600,000 have been moved to inactive status.
Benson said the new rule shows that Michigan can have both high voter turnout and well-maintained voter rolls.
“Canceling old registrations isn't the only success story here,” she said. “Since I took office, over 2.4 million eligible Michiganders have registered to vote. That means we're succeeding on both fronts, consistently adding new registered voters in accordance with the law, while taking outdated registrations off the books with a scalpel, not a sledgehammer.”
