The Anson County Board of Elections held its monthly meeting on Feb. 5.

Director Steve Adams reported that there were 41 name changes reported from the Department of Motor Vehicles; the number was higher than usual due to a backlog at the DMV. Of the 3,278 cards sent out for list maintenance on Dec. 17, 2012, 436 were returned undeliverable or no such number, 41 indicated that the voter changed addresses and 16 death notices were given, for a total of 493 of the 3,278 returned.

The cards were sent to the last known address of voters who hadn’t voted in the last two federal elections. Although a high number still haven’t been returned, Adams said that it doesn’t necessarily mean that the voter moved or is deceased. “It could just be they just haven’t voted [in the last two federal elections],” he said. “I’d love to see this number in the 1000-1500 mark. That would just really kind of confirm that we cleaned up a lot of stuff. I feel confident in what we’ve done list maintenance-wise. We’ve really cleaned up a lot of things.”

The board also voted to burn old disposable records rather than shred them, which, with an estimated 50 boxes to clear, will save many man hours, according to Adams. The board will find a time to burn the unneeded material at the landfill following a process of logging each destroyed record with board members as witnesses.

The board will hold its next regular meeting March 5 at 5 p.m. in the Elections Office at 101 South Greene St. in Wadesboro.