Minus Deadwood, Voter Rolls Dip 9%

The number of registered voters in Orange County has dropped almost 9% since the 1996 election due in part to a new program for purging nonvoters from the active voting list.

The program is part of the first systematic effort by the county to remove “deadwood” from voter rolls since the National Voter Registration Act went into effect in California in 1995.

Similar results have occurred in seven other counties where even greater percentages of voters have been dropped from their rolls, according to a survey this month by the secretary of state’s office.

The cuts are part of a wider trend in which registrations statewide are down by nearly 1.1 million since the 1996 election, to 14.6 million.

Most experts attribute the decrease to the aggressive purging of voters, but some wonder if it also reflects political apathy.

“Even with a purge, I wouldn’t expect to see that kind of drop,” said Mark Baldassare, a pollster and professor at UCI. “In a county known for its affluence and educated population that [so few] of the eligible adults are registered to vote is disturbing.”

In Orange County, the number of registered voters has fallen to 1,168,722, down almost 110,000 from November 1996. That is about seven in 10 of those eligible to register.

The overall drop in registration comes though population has risen more than 55,000 in the period and despite the registration of some 60,000 to 100,000 new voters since the election, according to deputy Registrar Don Taylor.

Los Angeles County has purged about 207,000 registrants from the active list since the 1996 election, a cut of 5.4%, said Conny McCormack, registrar-recorder/county clerk. Los Angeles County has 3,715,050 voters. San Bernardino County had moved about 113,000 to the inactive list, cutting its rolls by 15.2% to 742,975, according to state officials.

Election officials said the purge, which they call voter file maintenance, creates more accurate rolls and voter turnout statistics as well as saves money for counties and the state.

Removing inactive voters from the rolls was a factor in boosting turnout in last week’s Central Coast congressional election, said election officials. About 50% of registered voters turned out for the special election won by Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara). That was a record for the state in a nonconsolidated special election, said Secretary of State Bill Jones.

At the time of the 1996 election, Jones estimated that deadwood statewide composed 10%-20% of voter rolls. Jones has urged all the counties to prune deadwood and supported legislation passed in 1996 to do that.

Deadwood includes people with duplicate registrations, others who have moved from the county, as well as voters who have died.

In Orange County, officials in recent months have moved 109,785 registrants to the inactive list after trying to contact them because they had not voted in four consecutive federal general elections or any local elections in the same period, said Taylor.

The voters were sent postcards asking if they wanted to stay on the voter list, he said.

Those removed from the active file either did not respond, asked to be deleted or the card came back as undeliverable. The same program has been used in seven other counties and will be tried in others, said an aide to Jones.

People shifted to an inactive list may still vote at their precinct.

The county saves money because inactive voters do not receive sample ballots or other election material and counties do not print extra ballots for them. The savings is estimated at about $3 to $5 per voter for each election, said officials.

Orange County also removed from the rolls voters in several other categories, including people who had died or registered in another county, said Taylor. He could not provide a specific number for those categories.

Countywide, the decline in registration from 1996 was fairly evenly distributed across political parties and in key districts. Republicans are still 51.5% of registered voters countywide, while registration by Democrats increased less than a percentage point to 32.7%.

“It is universal and doesn’t care if you are Democratic or Republican,” said campaign consultant Harvey Englander. “I am thrilled they did the purge. It makes campaigns a little more affordable because there is a smaller group of people you have to mail to.”

In the much-watched 46th Congressional District of Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), registration dropped about 24,000 to 149,454. Republicans lost about 9,700 registrants while Democratic voters dropped 13,503.

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Peter M. Warren can be reached at (714) 966-5982 or by e-mail at peter.warren@latimes.com.