170,000 N.M. voters may be ineligible

Associated Press

Updated: Jul 31, 2012 3:14 PM

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The secretary of state's office is sending out postcards this week, urging voters to update their mailing information.

Secretary of State Dianna Duran says the mailings are necessary to clean up voter files.

Those who confirm their address will remain on the voter rolls. Addressees who do not return the postcards and haven't voted in certain elections will have their names removed.

Duran says the process of purging non-residents and non-voters hasn't been completed in more than seven years. Duran says as many as 170,000 people on the voter rolls could be ineligible to cast a ballot in New Mexico.

The U.S. Department of Justice informed her office in 2011 that New Mexico wasn't in compliance with the National Voter Registration Act.

Duran says she's working to fulfill the requirements.

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