Q: St. Johns County voter registration numbers dropped by approximately 15,000 voters since last month. What caused this?
A: The drop in numbers is a direct result of our bi-annual list maintenance required by FS 98.065. Supervisors are required to send a notice to all voters who have not voted during the last two general elections (2020 and 2022) and have not contacted our office since November 2020. Notices were mailed to 16,688 St. Johns County voters on Aug. 4. Voters can respond to the notice by calling the Elections Office or returning the postcard (which is postage paid) to acknowledge our request to confirm their legal residence is correct, update their voter record with a new address, or request their voter registration be canceled.
Q: What happens if a voter doesn’t respond to the notice you send them?
A: If the notice is returned undeliverable or no response is received from a voter after 30 days, they are moved to the inactive list, which begins the voter on the path to removal from Florida’s voter rolls. Following two federal general elections (2024 and 2026), if an inactive voter does not vote, update their address, or have any contact with our office, they will be removed from the rolls in December 2026.
Q: Were unresponsive voters removed from the voter rolls?
A: No, voters whose notice was returned undeliverable or did not respond within 30 days were moved from active registered voters to a status of inactive.
Q: Is an inactive voter eligible to vote?
A: Yes, but the voter must first confirm their local address prior to voting, requesting a vote-by-mail ballot, or making any changes to their voter record.
Q: Is this a new law?
A: No, we have been doing bi-annual list maintenance for many years; however, new laws went into effect July 1 that changed the notices that Supervisors mail, and the action taken from results of the mailing.
Q: Have other new laws helped Supervisors improve the accuracy of our voter rolls?
A: Yes. Supervisors now receive weekly reports from the Clerk of Courts on persons convicted of a felony the previous week so we can begin the removal process of the convicted felons. New laws now require the Florida Division of Driver Licenses to report voters who have updated their driver license address, but not their address on their voter record, to the Supervisors and the Department of Health updates us daily when voters on our rolls pass away so we can remove them from the rolls.
Q: What else do you do to keep our voter rolls current?
A: St. Johns County voter rolls are sent out every 60 days to the Post Office National Change of Address (NCOA) matching, so we are notified of voters who changed their address with the Post Office. This information is used to contact the voter and update addresses.
Q: What is the best way for our readers to contact you?
A: Readers can email me at voakes@votesjc.com or call me at (904) 823-2238. Our website, www.votesjc.com also has a wealth of information.
