LaRose encourages inactive voters to confirm voter registration information
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose issued Directive 2026-44 this week, outlining the completion phase of Ohio’s 2022 General Voter Records Maintenance Program, which helps ensure accurate, up-to-date voter rolls across the state. The program, which follows both federal and state requirements, aims to remove abandoned registrations while protecting active voters’ rights.
The maintenance program identifies potentially outdated registrations through two main processes: the National Change of Address (NCOA) database and the Supplemental Process, which identifies records that have been completely inactive for a period of six years.
The NCOA process compares boards of elections’ voter rolls with the United States Postal Service database to identify those who have moved without canceling their old registration.
“Maintaining accurate voter rolls is one of the most important ways we protect the integrity of Ohio’s elections,” said Secretary LaRose. “Our process is careful, transparent, and designed to safeguard every eligible voter’s right to cast a ballot while ensuring abandoned registrations are removed in accordance with the law."
Key points of the directive include:
According to the timeline required by law, no inactive registrations identified under the 2022 maintenance schedule will be removed before the 2026 General Election.
By September 11, 2026, all potentially affected voters will be sent a “Registration Readiness Notice” prior to cancellation.
Voters can easily maintain their registration by voting, updating or confirming their information, or responding to mailed notices.
Final cancellations of abandoned registrations will occur on January 27, 2027.
This process adds to the continuous work Ohio does to ensure accurate voter rolls, including removing non-citizens, deceased voter registrations and individuals who have moved. Additionally, Ohio utilizes federal, local, and state-to-state partnerships to ensure Ohio remains the gold standard for list maintenance.
The process complies with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and Ohio’s voter list maintenance process, which has been upheld by the United States Supreme Court. Boards of elections will send notices to impacted registrants, providing ample opportunity to confirm or update their registration status. Additionally, Secretary LaRose will once again make the full list public, when available. As part of this office’s commitment to transparency, Ohio was previously the first state in the nation to make its voter list maintenance information public prior to cancellation.
“Any Ohioan who believes they may be impacted has the opportunity through this transparent process to take action,” said Secretary LaRose.
If an inactive registration has been removed, the registrant may re-register at any time, as long as they’re an eligible elector in Ohio. Voters can check their registration status or register to vote quickly and conveniently at VoteOhio.gov.