New twist on spring voter canvass

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To protect the rights of voters during the presidential primary, no canvass letters can be mailed prior to April 28, which means that registrars throughout the state will have to complete their mailing within a three-day window, as the last day to send is May 1. Every year the registrar’s office is required to identify those names on our official voter registry that may need to be removed through an annual, selective canvass of voters. You can help the town by letting the registrars know if you, or your grown children, have moved out of Granby. The DMV and other town agencies also regularly let the registrars know about people who have moved to and from Granby. But this is not enough, and most out-of-state moves are not reported. Granby identifies those who no longer belong on their voter registry by using a National Change of Address service. This service identifies people who have filed a change of address with the post office. From this listing, the registrars expect to send out about 200 letters to people that are likely to have moved out of town. Another 100 potentially former residents will receive canvass letters based on no activity, i.e. people who have not voted or registered to vote in the last four years. The third source of information is ERIC, the Electronic Registration Information Center which compares national and state databases to Granby’s voter registry.

Why is this canvass information important? Because the number of ballots ordered is based on Granby’s total numbers of active voters, and this is now a significant part of the town’s budget. By keeping the town’s voter list as accurate as possible the registrars are able to minimize printing costs.