What Is Voter List Maintenance (VLM)?
"Voter list maintenance is the process state and county election officials use to maintain accurate and up-to-date voter rolls. Officials must follow appropriate state and federal laws to determine whether a voter should be removed from the rolls."
This definition is from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC). The EAC is an independent federal agency that is charged with helping voters participate in the electoral process and election officials improve the administration of elections.
It was established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) as part of Congress's response to problems with the administration of the 2000 elections. The legislation created the process for the EAC to conduct a biennial survey of the states on election administration practices. That survey is a key source for public data on state election administration processes.
The National Coalition for Voter Rights prioritizes voter list maintenance due to its significant impact on voter accessibility across the country. Many voters are unaware of their role in this process and are disengaged from it.
Your voter record has a "Status" indicator that is used in every state as part of Voter List Maintenance:
(1) Active, (2) Suspended/Inactive and (3) Cancelled/Purged
- Voters that are in Active and Suspense status can vote.
- Voters move from Active to Suspense status when they change their address and do not update their voter record with the new address. This is a major practice that states use to maintain accurate voter lists.
- In Texas, county elections mails a notification to the new address based on information from the post office. However, a voter must respond and confirm the new address for the voter record to be updated. In Texas, a voter can complete an online transaction to update their address.
- If you are in suspense status and do not vote in any election, including for two federal elections (4 years), you are cancelled/purged from the voter list. You will need to reregister. You will not receive a letter from County Elections telling you that you are cancelled.
- There were 2.1 million Texans in Suspense status as of March 2024. And 1 million Texans were cancelled/purged from the voter rolls from 2020-2022.
- Here is a fact sheet from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. FACT SHEET: Voter Registration List Maintenance
