OKEECHOBEE — Postcards requesting address confirmation went out to all registered voters in Okeechobee County in late March or early April.

The card states: “Even if the information is correct, please complete, sign and return the attached postcard within 30 days upon receipt or update your voter information online at https://registertovote.gov/home.”

What happens if you don’t return the postcard?

If you voted in the 2022 or 2024 election cycle, failure to return the card won’t affect your voter registration status, according to Okeechobee County Supervisor of Elections David May.

If you did not vote, and do not return the card or update your information online, your registration will go into “inactive” status.

Once in inactive status, if you fail to vote in two election cycles, your name will be removed from the voter registration list.

May said the postcards are part of a maintenance program conducted during non-election years. “We’re trying to see if people changed their address,” he explained.

He said some cards came back from the post office as “undeliverable” and some had forwarding addresses.

May said many who received the cards were unhappy that returning them required them to add a postage stamp. Many people pay bills and handle most communications electronically and simply don’t keep stamps on hand. He said they were less irritated by the cost of the stamp – now 69 cents for first class mail – than the effort required to obtain a stamp.

May said many people dropped off the cards in person or called the office to verify their addresses.

He said they also received complaints that the state website allows voters to update information but does not include an option to “verify” information is already correct.

“We’re trying to keep the voter role as clean as possible, removing people who are no longer in our community,” May added.