1. A. The Department of Elections shall provide for the continuing operation and maintenance of a central recordkeeping system, the Virginia voter registration system, for all voters registered in the Commonwealth.

   1. 1. Maintain a complete, separate, and accurate record of all registered voters in the Commonwealth. Such system shall automatically register a person who has preregistered pursuant to § 24.2-403.1 upon that person becoming eligible for registration under § 24.2-403 or reaching 18 years of age, whichever comes first. Such system shall also assign a unique identifier to each voter registered in the system.
   2. 2. Require the general registrars to enter the names of all registered voters into the system and to change or correct registration records as necessary.
   3. 3. Provide to each general registrar voter confirmation documents for newly registered voters, including voters who were automatically registered pursuant to subdivision 1, and for notice to registered voters on the system of changes and corrections in their registration records and polling places.
   4. 4. Require the general registrars to delete from the record of registered voters the name of any voter who (i) is deceased, (ii) is no longer qualified to vote in the county or city where he is registered due to removal of his residence, (iii) has been convicted of a felony and sentenced to a period of incarceration, (iv) has been adjudicated to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting, (v) is known not to be a United States citizen by reason of reports from the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to § 24.2-410.1 or from the Department of Elections based on information received from the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program (SAVE Program) pursuant to subsection E, or (vi) is otherwise no longer qualified to vote as may be provided by law.
   5. 5. Create a cancellation record, or direct the general registrars to create a record, to be retained on the system for at least four years, for each registered voter whose registration is cancelled, with the reason for cancellation. In accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.) and 52 U.S.C. § 20507(i), such cancellation records shall be made available for public inspection and copying.
   6. 6. Create a record, or direct the general registrars to create a record, to be retained on the system for at least four years, for each person whose application to register to vote is denied, including those persons who apply to register to vote under the provisions of § 24.2-420.1, with the reason for the denial. In accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.), such rejection records shall be made available for public inspection and copying.
   7. 7. Retain on the system permanently a separate record for information received regarding deaths, felony convictions, and adjudications of incapacity pursuant to §§ 24.2-408 through 24.2-410.
   8. 8. Provide to each general registrar, at least 16 days prior to a general or primary election and three days prior to a special election, an alphabetical list of all registered voters in each precinct or portion of a precinct in which the election is being held in the county, city, or town. These precinct lists shall be used as the official lists of qualified voters and shall constitute the pollbooks. The Department shall provide instructions for the division of the pollbooks and precinct lists into sections to accommodate the efficient processing of voter lines at the polls. Prior to any general, primary, or special election, the Department shall provide any general registrar, upon his request, with a separate electronic list of all registered voters in the registrar's county or city. If electronic pollbooks are used in the locality or electronic voter registration inquiry devices are used in precincts in the locality, the Department shall provide a regional or statewide list of registered voters to the general registrar of the locality. The Department shall determine whether regional or statewide data is provided. Neither the pollbook nor the regional or statewide list of registered voters shall include the day and month of birth of the voter, but shall include the voter's year of birth.
   9. 9. Acquire by purchase, lease, or contract equipment necessary to execute the duties of the Department.
   10. 10. Use any source of information that may assist in carrying out the purposes of this section. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall cooperate with the Department in procuring and exchanging identification information for the purpose of maintaining the voter registration system. The Department may share any information that it receives from another agency of the Commonwealth with any Chief Election Officer of another state for the maintenance of the voter registration system.
   11. 11. In accordance with the provisions of § 24.2-410.3, cooperate with other states and jurisdictions to develop systems to compare voters, voter history, and voter registration lists to ensure the accuracy of the voter registration rolls, to identify voters whose addresses have changed, to prevent duplication of registration in more than one state or jurisdiction, and to determine eligibility of individuals to vote in Virginia.
   12. 12. Reprint and impose a reasonable charge for the sale of any part of Title 24.2, lists of precincts and polling places, statements of election results by precinct, and any other items required of the Department by law. Receipts from such sales shall be credited to the Board for reimbursement of printing expenses.

   In order to operate and maintain the system, the Department shall:

2. B. The Department shall be authorized to provide for the production, distribution, and receipt of information and lists through the Virginia voter registration system by any appropriate means including paper and electronic means. The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.) shall not apply to records about individuals maintained in this system.
3. C. The State Board shall institute procedures to ensure that each requirement of this section is fulfilled.
4. D. The State Board shall promulgate rules and regulations to ensure the uniform application of the law for determining a person's residence.
5. E. The Department shall apply to participate in the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program (SAVE Program) operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the sole purpose of individually verifying the current citizenship status of persons who provided documents pursuant to subsection E of § 46.2-328.1. Upon approval of the application, the Department shall enter into any required memorandum of agreement with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The State Board shall promulgate rules and regulations governing the use of the immigration status and citizenship status information received from the SAVE Program. The Department shall not (i) use information received from the SAVE Program as the sole reason for rejecting a registration application, (ii) upload lists of registered voters to the SAVE Program for verifying citizenship status in bulk, or (iii) transfer any information to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or any subdivision thereof beyond the minimum information necessary to use the SAVE Program for the purpose permitted by this subsection.
6. F. Prior to entering into or terminating a memorandum of understanding, or modifying the terms of an existing memorandum of understanding, with any third party for the exchange of voter registration data for any purpose, the Commissioner of Elections shall submit the proposed memorandum of understanding, the reason for termination, or the proposed modifications, as appropriate, to the State Board for review and approval. Approval of such memorandum of understanding, or termination thereof, or modifications thereto, shall require a vote of two-thirds of the State Board. However, the provisions of this subsection do not apply to any data sharing agreements established between the Department and any other entity mandated by law to exchange data with the Department in order to operate and maintain the Virginia voter registration system.

1970, c. 462, § 24.1-23; 1971, Ex. Sess., c. 119; 1972, c. 620; 1973, c. 30; 1974, cc. 369, 428; 1975, c. 515; 1976, c. 616; 1978, c. 778; 1983, c. 348; 1993, c. 641; 1997, c. 801; 2000, cc. 510, 554; 2003, c. 1015; 2004, c. 428; 2005, c. 378; 2006, cc. 243, 926, 940; 2008, c. 379; 2009, cc. 865, 870, 874; 2011, c. 528; 2012, c. 686; 2013, cc. 425, 686, 725; 2014, c. 452; 2015, c. 740; 2018, c. 460; 2020, cc. 1064, 1065; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 217; contingently amended by 2023, c. 785; 2026, cc. 992, 1038, 1081, 1120.