Orange County Registrar of Voters uses third-party address-change data to update voter registration

Tackling the issue of moving voters and out-of-date voter registrations has become a priority for the Orange County, CA Registrar of Voters. The Registrar of Voters released a report entitled “Voter Registration Accuracy and Voter List Maintenance” (pdf), which outlines the Department’s efforts to address this issue.

As detailed in the report the Registrar of Voters conducted a series of tests using data from credible third-party providers. Election officials throughout California currently rely on updates from the Postal Service (dependent on voters notifying the agency of a move), or the individual voter themselves. In contrast, the third party data being used by Orange County has proven to be highly reliable and allows the Registrar of Voters to notify voters and update their records long before they think about notifying the Department.

“What we have found is that the vast majority of individuals that move notify their banks, car lenders, family and friends – even magazine subscriptions before they change their voter registration,” said Neal Kelley, Registrar of Voters. “By being proactive we can update records, with the voters’ verification and in compliance with California law, and reduce costs by not mailing costly sample ballots and other election materials to incorrect addresses.”

In a single test of just 1,000 voters the Registrar of Voters found that 281 voters had moved at least 5 times in a period of just a few years. This underscores the need to be proactive and creative in updating records and working to reduce costs.