Study: Voter rolls deeply flawed

Twenty-four million active voter registrations - one out of eight - "are no longer valid or have significant inaccuracies," according to a study from the Pew Center on the States. That figure includes about 1.8 million people who remain on voter rolls even though they have passed away.

The finding is likely to provide ammunition to the mostly-Republican lawmakers who are pushing legislation to reduce voter fraud - legislation that critics say is designed to reduce turnout among demographics that tend to favor Democrats.

But the study does not suggest the inaccuracies lead to significant fraud on Election Day. Instead, it suggests it is long-past time to modernize an outdated paper-based system and improve communication between states in order to save money and reduce errors.

To understand where these errors come from, think about what happens when you move from one state to another. You would register to vote in your new state, but that state doesn't notify your old state that you have moved - leaving you registered in both states, unless you cancel your previous registration.

According to Pew, around 2.75 million people have active registrations in more than one state, 12.7 million do not reflect a voters' current address and another 12 million have inaccurate addresses that make it unlikely that they can be reached by mail.

In 2008, according to Pew, Oregon taxpayers spent more than $4 to process voter registrations for each active voter. Using more modern methods, Canada spends under 35 cents to process registrations for each active voter.

"Proven solutions and technology are already in place in many government offices and the private sector, and states can use them to improve the accuracy, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of their systems," said David Becker, director of Election Initiatives at the Pew Center on the States.

Pew is urging states to move toward online voter registration, compare their voter registration list with other data such as motor vehicle and Social Security records, and improve their methods for identifying inaccurate or outdated records. Eight states have joined a pilot program to share information in an effort to improve the accuracy of their voter rolls.

One challenge in improving the lists is making sure that legitimate voters are not removed by accident - say, because they have the same name as someone who moved out of state or died.

The Pew study also found that nearly one in four eligible Americans - at least 51 million - are not registered to vote.