County officials outlined efforts to remove deceased and ineligible voters from registration rolls as required by state law.

At Wednesday’s county commissioners’ meeting, solicitor and acting election bureau director Wil White and bureau registrar Debra Drushel discussed those efforts, detailed in a report sent to the Department of Community and Economic Development as a requirement under Act 88. The county’s report was submitted Sept. 21.

Several sources of information are used in removing deceased voters, Drushel said.

The bureau reviews the list of deaths of county residents every two weeks from the state Department of Health and obituaries to remove the deceased from voter rolls, Drushel said.

The reports from the state and the obituaries are important because they help the bureau identify county residents who died outside of the county, which occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.

Family members of deceased voters sometimes inform the bureau about deaths so the names can be remove from voter rolls, she said.

If needed, the bureau checks with the county register of wills office to identify a deceased voter, she said.

In addition, the bureau receives information from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a non-profit organization that assists states to improve the accuracy of voter rolls and increase access to voter registration.

Drushel said information from the center helps the bureau find out about voters who move to or from the county, and identify people with duplicate registrations in the state.

Pennsylvania is among 33 states and the District of Columbia that submits voter registration and motor vehicle licensee data to the Electronic Registration Information Center. The data includes names, addresses, date of birth and last four digits of the Social Security number. Private data such as date of birth and the last four digits of the Social Security number are protected using a cryptographic one-way hash, according to the center.

Some voters who decide not to vote will contact the bureau to have their registrations canceled, Drushel said.

White said the county also receives information about voter registration verification from the federal government through the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

The one-time report is called the 75-day report because it was due Sept. 24 — 75 days after Act 88 went into effect. The report attests to the county’s compliance with various Election Code and voter registration law requirements.

Another way the bureau cleans up voter rolls is to notify voters who haven’t voted in two consecutive federal elections that they could be placed on the inactive voter list, Drushel said.

After not voting in two federal elections, the voter receives a five-year notice. If the voter doesn’t respond, he or she is placed on the inactive list after three years, she said. If the voter votes or requests a voter identification card, he or she is kept on the active list.

White said 14,500 absentee, mail-in and civilian overseas ballots are being prepared to be sent to voters who requested them.

He encouraged people needing those ballots to request them by the 5 p.m. Nov. 1 deadline. Those completed ballots must be submitted by 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 8.

The deadline to register to vote or to change voter registration is Oct. 24, he said.

Also, the commissioners approved relocating the Concord Township polling place from the township municipal building to Concord Presbyterian Church, 673 Hooker Road, West Sunbury.

White said the bureau received a petition containing 53 signatures of people who support the relocation.