State audit finds minor voter checklist errors after 2022 redistricting; office recommends post-redistricting clerk audits
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Summary
Deputy Secretary of State Lauren Hibbert told the Government Operations & Military Affairs committee that a multi-district audit under Act 70 found three categories of issues — operational redistricting errors, legacy data problems affecting 68 voters across 12 towns, and one isolated household move — and recommended clerk-led post-redistricting audits and continued use of a new election management system.
At a Government Operations & Military Affairs committee meeting, Deputy Secretary of State Lauren Hibbert presented a multi-district audit ordered under Act 70 and told members the report identified three categories of problems with voter checklists following the 2022 redistricting.
"This audit found 3 categories of issues," Hibbert said, and she told the committee the office had filed the requested report and would post it to the committee website. "All 24 of them complied with the requirement, and all but 1 did so within the legislative deadline," she added, crediting town clerks and BCAs for their work compiling the audits.
The largest category, which the office characterized as the most consequential for future improvements, involved "minor errors in operationalizing the 2022 redistricting process," Hibbert said. She cited Burlington — described in the report as having "more than 29,000 voters" — where auditors found 26 errors, and said Williamstown and Colchester also required voter moves; taken together, the office said the mistakes amounted to fewer than one in 1,000 voters and therefore were considered minor.
Elections Director John Chien told the committee the second category involved legacy data integrity issues carried forward by prior election systems. "Twelve towns were impacted," Chien said, and, "collectively, they had to move 68 voters to another legislative district." He said the state launched a new election management system in May 2025 that can run control reports to identify legacy formatting problems and will generate alerts when entries fail expected formatting rules.
Chien said the office ran control reports over the summer and fall, passed identified issues to town clerks for correction, and will continue monthly monitoring. "We're able to run control reports that identify legacy data issues," he said, noting the new system also enforces address-formatting safeguards to reduce future errors.
The third category was a single, routine case in which one voter moved across town and required an address update and corresponding district reassignment. Chien said existing biennial checklist reviews and election-day checklist procedures provide adequate safeguards for such cases and that no further remediation was needed for that item.
Hibbert recommended that clerks perform a district audit immediately after redistricting as a mitigation step; she said the Secretary of State's office will request that audit and that it could be made a legislative requirement. The presenters also cited the biennial checklist and statutory posting requirements (transcribed references in the hearing: "17 VSA 21 50" and "17 GSA 25 0 1") as ongoing tools for voters and clerks to identify and correct checklist errors.
Committee members publicly thanked the Secretary of State's office and town clerks for the work. One member said: "I just wanna thank you for that work and publicly thank the town clerks and the BCAs for that work because I know it's extra for them, but it was really important to me."
The office said it will post the full audit and the clerk-submitted summaries to the committee website and continue monthly control reporting through the new election management system. The committee recessed for lunch and plans to take up the Department of Public Safety upon return.
