Special to IFN

RALEIGH — The N.C. State Board of Elections is sending letters to more than 241,000 North Carolina voters who provided identification numbers when they registered to vote that did not validate against other government databases.

The letters encourage these voters to update their voter records by providing their driver’s license or social security numbers or by ensuring the name on their voter registration matches other official government records. Voters who wish to update their name on their voter registration should contact their county board of elections.

This is part of ongoing efforts by the State Board to maintain accurate and current voter rolls. It will also make it easier for election officials to find these voters’ records in the future if they update their name, address, or other information. More accurate data in voters’ records, in turn, will help election officials with future voter roll maintenance, which often relies on database matching.

Importantly, this new effort in no way will affect any voter’s registration status. During elections, affected voters will be asked if they want to update their information at their voting site. They will still vote regular ballots even if they do not update their information, unless there is another reason they must vote a provisional ballot.

“This is just another way we are working to have the most accurate voter rolls in North Carolina history,” said Sam Hayes, executive director of the State Board of Elections. “This effort does not affect the eligibility of any of these voters to cast ballots in our elections.”

This effort is separate from the Registration Repair Project, launched by the State Board last year. That project aims to collect ID numbers from voters who lack them altogether in the voter database.