BY FLORENCE GILKESON

Senior Writer

The Moore County Board of Elections will soon begin searching for more than 7,000 inactive voters.

Elections Director Glenda Clendenin said Tuesday that these residents have not voted in Moore County since before the 2008 general election. They have not notified the board of change of address, and notice of death has not been received.

In the coming weeks, the board will mail notices to each one of these missing voters, with the expectation that many will be returned as "addressee unknown." However, Clendenin said state law requires election boards to send notices to the addresses listed when the individual registered.

"Are you there?" Clendenin said the letters will ask in a figurative sense.

It's called "list maintenance," and under state law, local boards of elections must attempt to determine if these people are still living and if so, where they now live or if they are merely disinterested voters.

Their names will not be automatically deleted from the registration book if they have just neglected to vote. However, they will need to notify the elections office that they are still living and what their current address is.

Clendenin believes that many of the missing voters have moved from Moore County without notice to the board, although some have died.

Many such deaths probably occurred out of state, a factor which explains why no notice has been received.

If large numbers have either moved or died, then the county's registration total will drop dramatically.

As of Jan. 1, Moore County had 60,852 registered voters, down 40 from the Dec. 1 total.

Clendenin said that some of those losses are attributable to death.

Republicans, holding the majority with 25,737 registrants, lost 18 registrants, while Democrats, with a total of 18,372, lost 37. The unaffiliated roster climbed by 14 registrants to 16,626, and the Libertarians added one registrant, bringing their total to 117.

The State Board of Elections established Aug. 5, 2008, as the cutoff date to initiate the "maintenance list" roll call for the current period. The law calls for the period to span two general elections.

Contact Florence Gilkeson at florence@thepilot.com.