NEW HANOVER COUNTY — People across the state, including in New Hanover County, have received letters indicating their voter registration is late due to a software glitch at the State Board of Elections.
The first line of the letter states: “We have received your application for voter registration, but your application was received after the voter registration deadline for the 2025 MUNICIPAL Election.”
The letter gives directions on modifying a registration or registering during early voting, which ends on Nov. 1 in New Hanover County.
While routine to be sent from the state, some people are receiving them as intended and others are getting them by mistake. Anyone who believes they have received the letter in error can check their voter registration on the state’s website or contact their local board of elections to verify registration.
According to New Hanover County spokesperson Alex Riley, the county is aware of two of its residents receiving the letter in error, though both individuals were cleared to vote. Brunswick County Board of Elections Director Sara LaVere said they saw one or two as well.
According to the State Board of Elections, the glitch has affected fewer than 1,000 voters statewide.
The state’s press release explains county boards of elections made administrative corrections to voter registration records after the Oct. 10 deadline. This was mandated as part of voter roll list maintenance processes. But those administrative updates triggered the printing of the late registration letters.
“No registrations were canceled or removed from the rolls because of this letter and this error will in no way affect these voters’ eligibility to vote in the 2025 municipal elections,” according to the release.
In an email sent to New Hanover commissioners Thursday afternoon, County Manager Chris Coudriet reported a social media post “suggested the letters were created using artificial intelligence,” referring to a post made on the Nextdoor app.
“That is incorrect,” Coudriet wrote. “The letters were auto generated by the state’s election management system.”
The county manager also informed commissioners the New Hanover County Board of Elections will now implement an additional verification step before future mailings to prevent the mistake from occurring again locally.
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