(The Center Square) – Rhode Island has removed more than 60,000 voter registrations.

Through maintenance efforts with the state’s voter registry, Secretary of State Gregg A. Amore said Tuesday the Department of State has removed 60,619 inactive voters from the state’s registry through routine maintenance. The clean-up was conducted from Nov. 9 through Friday.

“Enfranchisement and expanding voting access are top priorities of my administration, and in order to best serve the voting public, it’s essential that we have accurate elections data,” Secretary of State Gregg M. Amore said in a statement. “That means making a consistent effort to ensure our voter lists are up-to-date, and I applaud the Department of State’s Elections Division and the local cities and towns for their work to strengthen our elections system.”

According to a release, a voter’s registration is deemed inactive when the department’s elections mail is returned to the sender as “undeliverable.” However, if that inactive voter doesn’t vote in one of the next two federal elections, the registration can be removed from the list under federal and state law.

During the 2020 presidential primary and general election in November that year, voters received mail-in ballot applications as the COVID-19 pandemic surged. Local boards of canvasses and the Department of State received more “undeliverable” returns than in a normal year.

According to a release, voter list maintenance works to ensure the lists are as accurate as they can be during the election process. The Department of Health and the Division of Motor Vehicles are among the entities submitting voter registration information to the department on a regular basis.

There are 721,062 active registered voters in Rhode Island, according to the Department of State.