Washington Parish voters need to become aware of a voting list purge, coming this Oct. 8. Reviewing a list of the original 969 names to be deleted from voting rolls several people will be upset when arriving at the polls in November by being turned away. Many names from Angie, Bogalusa, Franklinton and Mt. Hermon are itemized. To check this list for yourself go to: wpgov.org, then click on Executive Branch and then click on Registrar of Voters Inactive Voters List.

True, voters should be deleted if they have moved out of the Parish, are deceased or any legal reason they are ineligible, but many names on that list don’t fit in those categories. From what I’ve been told this list is populated two ways: (1) If a voter has failed to vote in the last two federal elections they will now be purged before this November’s federal election; also (2) The Louisiana Secretary of State has contacted the U. S. Postal Service and will purge names after comparing addresses of those who have moved from one address to another inside the Parish and have not reported the new address.

A decision on this important issue has been made by the Louisiana Executive Branch to save by not going public to the media with these names. If Washington Parish is one of the least populated in the State and nearly a thousand names could be purged, think of the thousands of voters that will be purged Statewide in the other 63 Parishes, many more heavily populated.

If your name is on the list, take address documentation and go to the Registrar of Voters office in the Franklinton courthouse and get this corrected. Voting is a freedom that every nation doesn’t enjoy, so take this privilege seriously, correct your address and help those you know on the list who don’t have access to a computer. Those of you who have never registered to vote, the deadline is before Oct. 8th.

— Charles Rimes,

Bogalusa