1,400 Michigan voter registrations thrown out

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (Newschannel 3) - Election officials around Michigan are running into some problems with the large number of last-minute voters registering for the November 4 election.

That's because some 1,400 voter registrations across the state have been cancelled, after their mailing addresses came back as undeliverable.

About 70 people who registered to vote in Kalamazoo are included in those 1,400 who were scratched, in most cases because an address was incorrect or the voter no longer lived at the address provided on the registration.

Now, in order to make those registrations count, the Secretary of State's Office is taking their case to an appeals court in Cincinnati. Even though a federal judge wants those registrations counted, Scott Borling, the Kalamazoo City Clerk says that current Michigan law requires they be cancelled, to avoid voter fraud.

This is an attempt to try to reduce the likelihood of that," said Borling. "If we send an I.D. card to that person at the address specified and it gets returned, you know there's a chance that person doesn't really live there."

If a voter I.D. card is returned, the local clerk will send rejection card to the recipient, which can be forwarded. That's in hopes that the notification will make it to the correct person, so they know they are not properly registered to vote.

If you worried that you're registration was thrown out, contact your local clerk or check the Michigan Government website at the "links" tab on www.wwmt.com.