In what may prove to be a crucial decision ahead of this year's presidential election, the North Carolina State Board of Elections has removed some 747,000 names from the voter rolls. 

According to WRAL News, roughly half of that total was comprised of individuals who have recently moved or passed away.

Over 1,400 non-citizens registered to vote

The other half was largely made up of people who have not voted in years while a smaller number have been convicted of a felony, were found not to be citizens, or simply asked not to be on the voter roll.

Breitbart noted that the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) obtained North Carolina records last year which suggested that 1,400 individuals were apparently to be foreign nationals.

The records found that ahead of the 2014 midterm elections, election officials identified more than 10,000 registrants as potential foreign nationals.

The majority of them held green cards, temporary visas, or were illegal aliens on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Poll: Three quarters of Republicans worried about election integrity

News of the North Carolina State Board of Elections culling of voter rolls came just days after the release of a Gallup poll on election integrity.

Carried out between September 3 and September 15, the survey found that 74% of Republicans are concerned about the prospect of "people using illegal or fraudulent means to cast votes."

What's more, another 74% expressed a fear that this year's election results could be effected by people who are not legally eligible to submit a ballot.

Respondents were also asked, "How confident are you that, across the country, the votes for president will be accurately cast and counted in this year’s election -- very confident, somewhat confident, not too confident or not at all confident?"

Only 28% of Republicans indicated that they are very or somewhat confident whereas 72% said they are not too confident or not confident at all.

Republican and independent voters more likely to trust local polling stations

Those responses contrast sharply with the ones provided by independent voters and Democrats, with 58% of the former and 84% of the latter stating that they are very or somewhat confident.

Interestingly, Gallup noted how response disparities were far narrower when participants were asked about their local polling stations.

The poll found 90% of Democrats, 71% of independent voters, and 70% of Republicans are very or somewhat confident that the election will be handled fairly.