SBE: NVRA Registrations Increase Dramatically | Eastern North Carolina Now

    RALEIGH, N.C.     The number of North Carolinians who registered to vote or updated their registrations through various state agencies under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) more than doubled since 2012, from about 345,000 that year to a record 715,000 in 2016.

    Under NVRA, certain agencies that provide public services, such as county departments of social services and Division of Motor Vehicles offices, must also provide voter registration services to their customers.

    Registrations and updated registrations initiated at public assistance agencies, including DSS offices, dipped in 2013 and 2014, which are non-presidential-election years, but rebounded to more than 30,000 in 2015 and a record high of 48,910 in 2016.

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    At DMV offices, the increase in voter registrations and updates was more dramatic. That was mainly because the DMV's secure online system now allows customers to update their voter records when they make changes to their driver's licenses and other DMV records. More than 661,000 DMV customers registered to vote or updated their registrations in 2016, up 81 percent from 366,000 in 2015.

    "Through partnerships between boards of elections and public agencies across North Carolina, voter registrations submitted or updated through those agencies rose to an all-time high in 2016," said Kim Westbrook Strach, executive director of the State Board of Elections. "This is great news for voter participation and will help ensure the accuracy of North Carolina's voter rolls moving forward."

    For more detailed NVRA data, go to the State Board of Elections' website at http://www.ncsbe.gov/Voter-Registration/NVRA