The Department of Elections (ELECT) is charged by federal and state law to maintain a central voter registration database. Va. Code § 24.2-404 charges ELECT with maintaining a “complete, separate, and accurate record of all registered voters in the Commonwealth.” As one of the first states in the country to introduce a centralized voter registration database, Virginia has consistently been a forward-thinking leader on list maintenance issues.
In 2007, the state introduced the Voter and Election Registration Information System (VERIS), which expanded the database and enabled ELECT to handle other processes such as candidate and petition processing as well as list maintenance reporting. One of the many data reports available from VERIS is the Registration Statistics Report, which provides detailed numbers of registrants based on registration methods and is broken down by locality. These reports are posted monthly and are available for viewing on the ELECT website.
Below is the 2022 report. Some highlights:
- From September 1, 2021 – August 31, 2022, 4,667 voters were cancelled after a felony conviction was reported to ELECT.
- From September 1, 2021 – August 31, 2022, 7,882 citizens registered to vote after having their rights restored by the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
- From September 1, 2021 – August 31, 2022, 2,771 voters were cancelled after declaring themselves “non-citizen” within the DMV process.
- From September 1, 2021 – August 31, 2022, 68,132 voters were cancelled due to having been identified as deceased.