The South Burlington Board of Civil Authority on July 17 authorized the City Clerk to instruct the election system to purge previously challenged registrants who meet statutory criteria and further authorized the clerk to issue challenges to voters who have not cast ballots since the August 2022 primary.

The Board heard that the biannual process requires sending a letter to the Secretary of State by Sept. 15 confirming the city has completed its surge review of the voter checklist. Staff explained two distinct steps: (1) perform a batch purge of people who were already sent challenge notices and who did not vote in subsequent general-election cycles, and (2) continue reviewing the remaining challenged list and issue additional challenges where appropriate.

Criteria and sources: staff said common triggers for challenges include state death notices, property transfer tax returns, and other records indicating a voter may have moved. The clerk proposed using August 2022 (the primary) as a cutoff for additional challenges and noted the Board can also individually review any remaining names after the system purge.

Motions and vote: Board members made and seconded motions to authorize the purge and to authorize Holly Rees, City Clerk, to challenge voters who have not voted since August 2022. The Board approved the authorizations by voice vote; one member (Matthew Vigneault) confirmed he said “aye.” No roll-call tally was read into the record at the meeting.

Next steps: staff will submit the Secretary of State notification by the Sept. 15 deadline, run the batch purge, and then distribute the remaining list of challenged registrants to Board members for any individual follow-up. The clerk said she would prepare the lists and present them to the Board.