Secretary of State outlines multi-system IT overhaul; Safe at Home portal launched, election system deferred to May

Secretary of State Sarah Copeland-Hanzas told the Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee on Tuesday, March 11, in Montpelier that her office has completed a multi-year information-technology overhaul that includes a newly launched Safe at Home portal and updated business services, campaign finance and lobbying filing systems, while the election management system is still in end-user testing and is targeting a May 2025 launch.

The upgrades, Copeland-Hanzas said, aim to move services that historically relied on paper and aging software into modern, mobile-friendly online platforms intended to improve service for survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking, businesses, campaign filers, lobbyists and voters across Vermont.

The Safe at Home address-confidentiality portal, designed to let eligible participants manage mail forwarding and other program functions online, “actually launched on February 20,” Copeland-Hanzas said. The office reported the implementation cost fell in line with the budget and said annual maintenance will be lower than prior arrangements. The office said about 201 participants (125 households) were ported into the new system and that roughly 60% of existing participants have logged into the portal since outreach began.

David Hall, director of business services at the Office of the Secretary of State, described the new business-services filing system as “mobile friendly” and said his five-person team (plus the director) has processed more than 44,000 filings so far this year. Hall said the office still accepts paper filings but built the new…