State voter rolls are always changing. People move, change their names, become newly eligible to vote, or pass away. That’s why state and local election officials regularly review and update voter registration lists, following state and federal law to keep them accurate while protecting eligible voters’ access to the ballot.
But routine voter roll maintenance has increasingly become a target of election misinformation. Bad-faith actors have repeatedly claimed that voter rolls are filled with ineligible voters, and at the same time, the Trump administration has sought sensitive voter data from states and pushed states to use unreliable federal citizenship data to check their rolls. As the 2026 midterm elections approach, those efforts are giving new life to old, misguided claims that outdated records or names flagged for review are proof that elections are insecure.
That is not how voter rolls work. Registration lists are living records, not a snapshot that stays frozen between elections. States use established processes to identify voters’ changing information, often drawing on official records and information from other government agencies. Those updates happen on schedules set by law. Federal law also places limits on when and how voters can be removed, so that eligible Americans are not improperly kicked off the rolls.
Maintaining accurate voter lists is careful, ongoing work, and state and local election officials do it every day. They keep lists current while also making sure eligible voters are not wrongly removed—a balance that is essential to a well-run election. With misinformation increasingly turning ordinary election administration into something suspicious, voters should understand how the system protects both the accuracy of the rolls and their ability to cast a ballot.
Here are the messages from state leaders that are resonating with Americans, based on States United research:
- The process of finding and removing ineligible voters from voter rolls doesn’t mean the system is failing; it means it’s working.
- It’s normal for voters on the rolls to become ineligible for many reasons, such as moving or passing away, and processes are in place to address this.
- The systems of security checks and balances in place are actively working as intended.
- State election infrastructure relies on layered safeguards—including regular list maintenance and official cross-checks with government databases—to keep voter rolls clean while protecting valid registrations.
- This means some places may at times have more voters on their rolls than citizens eligible to vote. But that is normal and is based on predetermined schedules by which ineligible voters are cleaned from the rolls.
- Rolls are always cleaned in time for elections so that only eligible people cast votes.
- The truth is state and local election officials —our friends and neighbors—review those rolls regularly and follow state and federal laws that guide voter list maintenance.
- They are preparing another election that’s free, fair, safe, and secure and will make sure eligible voters, and only eligible voters, can cast ballots.
Source: statesunited.org
