Floyd Co. voter rolls dip

Floyd County has 54,794 active registered voters this month – 400 fewer than in June.

But the decrease is “statistically insignificant,” according to Chief Elections Clerk Robert Brady.

“School’s out, people are moving. We expect to see an increase in September,” Brady told members of the Floyd County Board of Elections.

The announcement came during a discussion of how the voter rolls are updated. Brady said what some people call a purge is actually a method of clarifying a voter’s status. Notifications are sent out to voters who haven’t cast a ballot in three years. If they don’t respond in 40 days, they’re moved to inactive status.

“It’s only after eight years that their registration is canceled,” Brady said.

Dr. Tom Rees, who chairs the elections board, noted that people on the inactive list may still vote if they show up at the polls on election day as long as their information remains correct.

“We’re in the business of trying to get people to vote,” Rees said.

Brady said 3,144 “nocontact notices” went out to Floyd County voters in the latest review and 1,055 came back as undeliverable to the address on file. While state law prohibits the post office from forwarding election information, 299 of the returned cards had change-of-address stickers on them.

Those original notices were then mailed to the new address and, as of last week, Brady said 88 of the 299 came back with updated information.

Voters who didn’t cast a ballot in the 2018 midterm elections can check their registration status online at the Georgia My Voter website or call the county elections office at 706-291-5167.

Oct. 7 is the deadline to register to vote in the Rome or Cave Spring elections this year. Brady said applications for mail-in ballots would be accepted as early as Sept. 26 for the Presidential Preference Primary scheduled for March 24, 2019.