103,270 North Carolinians must update their voter registration. Here's who's on the list and how they should respond

Elections officials will begin sending out notices to tens of thousands of voters to update their registration. If they don't respond, they'll have to cast a provisional ballot.

NCSBE Executive Director Sam Hayes reads a copy of a Trump administration lawsuit filed in May.

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The State Board of Elections on Thursday moved forward with its plan to gather updated information from tens of thousands of North Carolinians.

It’s now up to 103,270 voters to respond to a forthcoming mailer by providing their driver’s license or Social Security information. A searchable database is available here for folks wishing to see if they are impacted.

Voters who don’t update their registrations will have to cast a provisional ballot, which have historically gotten rejected at higher rates than standard ballots.

“This project will not result in the removal of any eligible voter from the voter rolls,” said Sam Hayes, executive director of the State Board of Elections. “Instead, it will result in more complete voter rolls and compliance with state and federal law.”

Separately, the NCSBE has identified an additional estimated 96,000 voters with information missing from a voter registration database. But because those voters have largely already supplied necessary information in the past, they can continue voting as normal, regardless of whether or not they respond to a second mailer that’ll go out later this summer.

What should I do if I’m on the list?

There’s three way voters can address concerns with their registration:

1. ONLINE: If you are a registered driver, submit an updated voter registration form through the DMV’s website at payments.ncdot.gov. This is free to do. Click “Continue as Guest” when asked to log in to myNCDMV. Next, click “Yes” when asked to update your voter information.

2. IN PERSON: Bring your driver’s license or Social Security number to your local county elections board office. You can locate your county elections office here.

3. BY MAIL: The State Board of Elections will mail letters in early August to individuals who remain on the list at the time the mailing is sent. People who haven’t already taken Steps 1 or 2 can then fill out the letter and mail it to the county board of elections in the pre-addressed, prepaid return envelope enclosed with the letter.

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Who’s on the list?

The 103,270 impacted voters are 63% unaffiliated, 23% Democratic and 14% Republican, according to a review of NCSBE data.

After downloading NCSBE’s list of names, I enlisted the help of Western Carolina University political scientist Chris Cooper. The big takeaway: the impacted voters are disproportionately younger and unaffiliated. While Democrats are also underrepresented, they are more likely to be affected than Republicans, as registered GOP voters were the least likely to be on the list.

You can read Cooper’s deeper dive here. The biggest toplines:

• The average age of a North Carolina voter is 51 years. The average age of the incomplete registrants: 39 years.

• The 103,270 voters are 63% unaffiliated, 23% Democratic and 14% Republican. Compared to the state voting population, this is a 26-point overrepresentation of unaffiliated voters, 9-point underrepresentation of Democrats and 16-point underrepresentation of Republicans.

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How do I know if I’m good?

Once you provide the necessary information, it’ll be updated on the State Board of Elections Registration Repair Search Tool within a few days.

If you still see your name on the list after 10 days, contact your county board of elections office for assistance.

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What if I don’t have a driver’s license or Social Security number?

Note that on a voter registration form or in response to the letter you receive in August. You may be asked to provide an alternative form of personal identification the next time you vote.

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Why am I on this list?

Through no fault of the voter, the State Board of Elections for years had a voter registration form that didn’t comply with federal law because it appeared to make filling out a driver’s license number or Social Security number optional. This issue spanned across Democratic and Republican administrations. While that form has since been fixed so it’s not an issue going forward, the State Board of Elections must now go back in time to identify impacted voters.

This issue received much attention in the 2024 Supreme Court election protest filed by Republican Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin.

While the state Supreme Court ultimately rejected this protest category from Griffin, the Trump administration sued the State Board of Elections in May. To resolve the litigation, the board unanimously adopted a plan to contact an estimated 194,000 people over the course of two mailers. The first mailer, which is now going out to 103,270 people, prioritizes those who most imminently need to update their voter registration information.