It is not uncommon for a state to clean out its voter rolls every couple of years -- especially to remove voters who have moved and are no longer eligible to vote in the state.
However, there are many states that will kick voters off the registration rolls simply for not voting in a previous election. Like in Wyoming, which purged more than 86,000 people from its rolls this year.
This amounts to approximately 29% of registered voters in the state -- all because turnout hit a near record low in 2022.
Wyoming law requires county clerks to purge voters who did not participate in a previous election. Wyoming is 1 of 20 states with laws that explicitly purge voters for infrequent voting.
This means 1 in 3 Americans are potentially affected by these laws should they choose not to vote in one or more election cycles.
But the Wyoming purge also comes after higher-than-normal turnout in the 2020 presidential election -- and many of the voters who felt more incentivized to vote in 2020 than 2022 may be more inclined to vote in the current cycle.
How many of these voters know they have been kicked off the voter registration rolls is unknown -- but it may come as quite a surprise when they show up on election day.
