Brevard Voter Roll Maintenance: What 'Inactive' Means and How to Check Your Status

Brevard voter roll maintenance, explained: how the SOE keeps the rolls current, what inactive status means for your vote, and how to check your status today.

As the Republican State Committeeman for Brevard County, Florida, I hear two worries about the voter rolls, often from the same person: "Are dead people and movers still on the list?" and "Could I be dropped by mistake?" Florida law answers both, and the answers are better than most people think. Here's how it works, with links so you can check every detail yourself.

Who keeps Brevard's voter rolls current

The Brevard County Supervisor of Elections (SOE) says it receives frequent notifications from the U.S. Postal Service, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, the Florida Department of Health's Bureau of Vital Statistics, the Brevard County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, and other agencies "to maintain current records and remove ineligible voters from the rolls" (SOE Election Integrity).

At the state level, the Florida Department of State must identify voters who are registered more than once, who have died, who have been convicted of a felony without having their voting rights restored, who have been adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting, or who may be ineligible because of their citizenship status (s. 98.075, F.S.). When the state confirms a voter has died, the supervisor must remove the name within 7 days.

Brevard voter roll maintenance for movers: the address check

Most list maintenance is about addresses, because people move. Under s. 98.065, F.S.:

• Each supervisor must run a list maintenance program at least once each year, starting no later than April 1, and finish it at least 90 days before any federal election.
• Supervisors can use the Postal Service's change-of-address data to find voters who may have moved, and Brevard does (see below). When they do, in odd-numbered years they also mail address confirmation final notices to voters who haven't voted in the past two general elections (or any election in between) and haven't asked to update their records. The other option the law allows is mailing an address confirmation request to every registered voter in the county.
• A voter who gets a final notice and doesn't send back the prepaid return form within 30 days, or whose notice comes back undeliverable, is designated inactive.

Here's what that looks like in Brevard. In April 2024, the SOE mailed 5,488 postcards to voters flagged through the Postal Service's National Change of Address program, asking them to confirm their residency within 30 days to stay active (SOE release, April 18, 2024).

What "inactive" really means

Inactive is not removed. The SOE puts it plainly: "Voters whose status is moved to 'inactive' are still eligible to vote for a period of up to two general elections" (SOE release).

Florida law says an inactive voter goes back on the active list by doing any one of three things and confirming their current address: updating their registration, requesting a vote-by-mail ballot, or showing up to vote. If an inactive voter does none of those by the second general election after being placed on the inactive list, the name is removed and the voter must register again (s. 98.065, F.S.).

The 90-day rule: no address purges this close to an election

Florida law says an address notice may not be issued, and a voter may not be removed for those reasons, later than 90 days before a federal election (s. 98.065, F.S.). For the Nov. 3, 2026 general election, that cutoff was Aug. 5, 2026.

The same section still allows a record to be corrected based on information from the voter, and allows removal at any time at the voter's written request, because of the voter's death, or after an ineligibility determination under s. 98.075.

Due process before anyone is removed as ineligible

Before the supervisor removes a voter flagged as potentially ineligible (for example, a felony conviction without restored rights), Florida law requires a mailed notice within 7 days. The notice must say that failing to respond within 30 days may lead to removal, and that the voter has a right to request a hearing. If the mailed notice comes back undeliverable, the supervisor must publish notice within 14 days in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, on the county's website, or on the supervisor's website (s. 98.075, F.S.). Brevard's SOE posts these on its Eligibility Legal Notices page.

And if a name is ever removed in error, the law says the name "shall be restored ... upon satisfactory proof, even though the registration period for that election is closed" (s. 98.081, F.S.).

What to do this week

1. Check your status with the SOE's Voter Information Lookup.
2. Moved within Brevard? You can still vote. Registration for this election closed on Oct. 5 (new applications now count only for later elections), but address, name and signature updates are still allowed for this election (s. 97.055, F.S.). A voter who moved within the county may vote in the new precinct after signing an affirmation of the address change (s. 101.045, F.S.). During early voting, you can use any Brevard site (SOE Early Voting).
3. Got a card from the SOE? Answer it. That's the fastest way to stay active.

My view: clean rolls protect the eligible voter

In my personal view, voter roll maintenance isn't about keeping people from voting. It's about making sure every eligible voter's ballot counts the same, and that no one else's name can be used in their place. Florida's system gets the balance mostly right: a 30-day window to answer, two general elections before an inactive voter is removed, a 90-day quiet period before federal elections, a hearing for anyone flagged as ineligible, and restoration on proof for anyone removed in error, even after registration closes.

The strongest case against aggressive list maintenance is real: a voter who misses a postcard can end up inactive, and mailings cost taxpayers money. That's exactly why the grace period and the restoration rule matter, and why I'd rather see the system watched closely than loosened.

Here's one thing I'd like to see. Twice a year, by July 31 and January 31, every supervisor must certify to the state how many address confirmation requests were sent, how many voters were made inactive, and how many were removed (s. 98.065, F.S.). I couldn't find Brevard's certified numbers on votebrevard.gov. (The state does publish monthly counts of voters removed in each county, but not the supervisor's certified list maintenance report, which also shows the address confirmation requests sent and the voters made inactive.) In my personal view, those reports should be posted where every voter can see them. Sunshine builds trust.

Brevard's own election-integrity practices, including its audit of every race on every ballot, are explained on the SOE's Election Integrity page. My personal take on the ballot, except judicial races, where I make no recommendations, is in my Voter Guide. Common questions are answered on my FAQs page, and you'll find more posts like this one on the blog.

Opinions in this post are my personal view as Josiah Gattle, Republican State Committeeman for Brevard County, Florida. They are not a statement by any party organization.

LET'S WIN TOGETHER!

Sources: Brevard County Supervisor of Elections, Election Integrity page, Voter Information Lookup, Early Voting, Eligibility Legal Notices, and the April 18, 2024 release "5,488 Voters Sent Postcards..." (votebrevard.gov), checked Oct. 21, 2026; Fla. Stat. 97.055, 98.065, 98.075, 98.081 and 101.045 (flsenate.gov, 2026); Florida Department of State voter registration reports (dos.fl.gov).

Political advertisement paid for and approved by Josiah Gattle for Brevard Republican State Committeeman.