Vermont Purges 900 Wrongly Registered Voters After Audit

Vermont officials removed nearly 900 people from state voter rolls after an internal audit revealed they were wrongly registered due to human error at the Department of Motor Vehicles. The errors spanned 25 years, peaking during a 2016 transition to a new IT system when individuals who declined registration were registered regardless.

Sarah Copeland Hanzas, the Secretary of State, announced the purge to ensure accuracy before the November general election, noting that none of the affected individuals had ever cast a ballot. The cleanup followed a similar registration glitch reported in New Jersey. Andrew Collier, Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles, stated that some errors were human-made during data transfers and implemented new quality checks to prevent future occurrences.

This state-level action coincides with a Supreme Court of the United States ruling that allows President Donald Trump to pursue federally-managed voter lists to curtail mail-in voting. Governor Phil Scott condemned the federal move as overreach, maintaining his commitment to defending Vermont's mail-in voting system.