The Department of Elections (ELECT) is pleased to provide to the members of the House and Senate Privileges and Elections Committees of the Virginia General Assembly the Annual List Maintenance Report which details the list maintenance activities undertaken to maintain the Virginia voter registration system, in accordance with the Code of Virginia §§ 24.2-404 (F) and 24.2-404.4 (C).

Overview

As of August 31, 2023, a total of 6,095,707 individuals are registered to vote in Virginia. For this reporting period, 294,572 individuals registered to vote, and 234,736 voter registrations were cancelled after following the various processes for voter registration list maintenance.

Transforming List Maintenance in Virginia

Throughout the past year, ELECT has made unprecedented strides in improving the accuracy of its voter list. In December 2022, ELECT began conducting audits of all list maintenance practices, addressing technical errors, improving existing processes, and diversifying data sources. As a result, Virginia has been nationally recognized for its robust list maintenance improvements and new initiatives highlighted below:

Voter List Comparisons with Border States & Beyond

• Established one-to-one data sharing agreements with border states Tennessee, Washington D.C. and West Virginia, as well as Georgia, Ohio, and South Carolina, to prevent duplication of registration in more than one state or jurisdiction, identify potential double voters, and to ensure the accuracy of the voter registration lists.

National Change of Address (NCOA) Improvements

• Adopted 2018 Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) recommendations never before implemented.

o Conducted two USPS NCOA mailings in 2023 for the first time in Virginia history, classifying 260,653 voters as ‘Inactive’.

• Identified cross-state movers from more states historically with DMV surrender reports.

• Procured a new NCOA vendor, Melissa Data, which is a global leader in data quality and address verification.

Felony Convictions (Total Cancellations: 17,368)

• Automated a solution to ensure individuals convicted of a new felony after their rights have been restored are removed from the voter list, which was not occurring previously.

Removal of Deceased Voters (Total Cancellations: 77,348)

• Streamlined processes by introducing a new form and allowing obituaries.

• Acquired access to a national death record database to look up out-of-state deaths.

• Conducted an audit of all VDH death records going back to 1960.