BATON ROUGE — Nearly half a million Louisiana voters are on the state's inactive voter list, putting their registrations at risk if they don't act.

According to the Secretary of State's office, about 447,000 people, roughly 15 percent of all registered voters, have not voted lately and are classified as inactive. In East Baton Rouge Parish, that number sits at about 48,000 names, down from 50,000 last year.

"Inactive is a sort of in-between status," said Stephen Procopio, president of the Public Affairs Research Council, a state watchdog agency.

Procopio also noted that being inactive doesn't mean a voter is immediately removed. "Even if you're inactive, you can still vote," he said, adding it may take longer.

Voters across Baton Rouge received a printed list of inactive voters with their newspaper last week. The notice was thick and long, but East Baton Rouge voter Charles Rip McClure looked it over closely when it arrived at his house.

"I look at it to see if any of my kinfolk are on there," McClure said.

The Secretary of State's office tries to reach inactive voters before removing them.

"We work to try to contact them through mailing, and if that's unsuccessful, then they remain on the inactive voter list," said Trey Williams with the Secretary of State's office.

Williams also explained how voters end up on the list in the first place.

"If we've mailed them something and it gets returned from the post office as not being able to be delivered, then they automatically go on the inactive voter list," he said.

If a voter does not respond for an extended period or does not vote in two regularly scheduled federal elections, the registrar may eventually cancel the registration.

The cost to the state for publishing the inactive voter list topped $68,000, and that's just for East Baton Rouge Parish. The Secretary of State's office says voters on the list who have not changed their address are currently able to vote, and the full list is available on the Secretary of State's website.