Being ‘inactive’ is not something you want to hear when you arrive at your polling place to vote, but according to a town of Hanover resident, it was not that uncommon to hear last Tuesday.

“This was NOT an isolated incident according to the Board of Elections representative at the site,” J. Patrick Gorman said after describing a scenario via email.

Republican Board of Elections Commissioner Brian Abram said an inactive status is more common than you may think.

“We don’t have the totals yet, but I’m sure that total will be very high because people are so mobile. The last thing they’re thinking about when they move from point A to point B is to update their voting records. So they go to the DMV and take care of their driver’s license per se and they make sure their newspaper and bills will come to their new address, but I would say not on the radar screen at all would be your voting records. Even if you moved right down the road a little ways, it doesn’t really matter. Once you move, we don’t have those records and if we send something to you where you said you lived before and it comes back, we by law have to make you inactive,” he explained.

According to state law, if the county board of elections cannot verify your address, then you are considered “inactive,” but this does not prevent you from voting. If you move and do not change your address with the board of elections within 25 days of the election, you can file a provisional affidavit ballot at your new polling place. These are researched to make sure they are valid and counted with the absentee ballots later. Once they are counted, a letter is sent to the voter and their information updated.

The email from Gorman said residents were “dropped” from the voting list for their inactive status. Abram said that those voters are not dropped, but must vote a different way.

“They were put into a different status because they were not dropped; we wouldn’t drop anybody for that,” he said.

Abram also noted it is not just address changes that can cause a problem. Name changes and party changes also have to be addressed ahead of time to avoid a provisional affidavit ballot.

“If you got married and changed your name and we can’t find you (in the poll book), well it’s because you changed your name and no one has put all the bricks together so to speak. The affidavit ballot is kind of a catch-all that helps us make sure that we get people where they need to be,” he explained.

You can check your voter status anytime at votechautauqua.com or by calling the board of elections during business hours at (716)753-4250.

Changing your address, name or party is done by refiling the same voter registration paperwork used to register in the first place. Abram said this form is available online, at the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Board of Elections office and at any municipal hall, post office or library.