PLACERVILLE, Calif. December 11, 2019 – El Dorado County Registrar of Voters, Bill O’Neill, is alerting voters who receive a mailed postcard from the El Dorado County Election Department indicating they are registered as a No Party Preference (NPP) voter that they may have to re-register.

“We are confident our mailing list of NPP voters is accurate, however, some voters may have had their party preference unknowingly changed as a result of automatic voter registration through the California Department of Motor Vehicles,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill does not know how many voters may have had their party preference changed, but since his office will be mailing approximately 30,000 postcards this Friday, he is urging everyone who receives a postcard to check their party registration and, if they are listed as NPP in error, to re-register with their preferred party so their records are updated before the March 2020 primary.

In 2018, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) launched its Motor Voter program whereby any qualified voter transacting with the DMV for issues such as updating a driver’s license, ID card, or change of address had the option to register unless that person opted out. Some voters may have inadvertently had their party registration changed if they skipped the party preference question. This caused their preference to default to NPP, even if they had previously been registered with a different qualified political party.

Regular registration for the March primary ends February 18, 2020. After that, voters may register or reregister at the Registrar of Voters’ Office or any Vote Center and cast a Conditional Voter Registration Provisional Ballot; however, the process is streamlined if registration occurs before the February 18 deadline.

“I urge voters who had their party preference changed to NPP to make the needed adjustments no later than the beginning of February to best ensure they receive the ballot of their choice,” O’Neill added.

Voters can check their registration status by checking this link or visiting https://voterstatus.sos.ca.gov.