As a college freshman back in 1984, I became a first time voter, when I cast an absentee ballot from my dorm room in the Reagan/Mondale presidential election. Now, 28 years later, my daughter will be voting in her first election, also as a college freshman, also in a presidential year. To get Megan registered as a voter, I consulted the Virginia Board of Elections website, where I found this advisory about an erroneous viral e-mail.
The Virginia Board of Elections is telling people to ignore a mass e-mail that suggests registered voters have to re-register if they haven't voted in a while. Officials say voter registrations are not canceled just because a voter has been inactive.
According to the release from the State Board of Elections, a voter may be shifted to inactive status if election mailings to their address are returned undeliverable. In such cases, the voter may still cast a ballot if they sign a statement at the polling place. For that reason, the SBE recommends that people who haven't voted since 2008 check their registration status. It can be done online here.
I find voter registration issues to be tricky to write about sometimes. For example, the deadline to register to vote in the November elections is Monday, October 15th. To the casual listener, that could sound as if anyone who wants to vote in November has to sign up by 10/15. The truth is, the deadline is only for people who have never registered to vote before, or who have moved in the last year.
Essentially, a voter's registration is good for life, but it's up to the voter to make sure their records are up to date. That means notifying the local registrar's office if you move.
For information on how and where to register to vote or on how to get an absentee ballot, visit the State Board of Elections website.
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