§ 2145a. Registrations at the Department of Motor Vehicles
(a) An application for, or renewal of, a motor vehicle driver’s license or nondriver identification
card shall serve as a simultaneous application to register to vote if the applicant
attests to U.S. citizenship or the Department has proof of U.S. citizenship unless
the applicant checks the box on the application designating that the applicant declines
to use the application as a voter registration application.
(b)(1) A motor vehicle driver’s license or nondriver identification card application shall
provide and request the following information and shall be in the form approved by
the Secretary of State:
(A) The applicant’s citizenship.
(B) The applicant’s place and date of birth.
(C) The applicant’s town of legal residence.
(D) The applicant’s E-911 street address or a description of the physical location of
the applicant’s residence. The description must contain sufficient information so
that the town clerk can determine whether the applicant is a resident of the town.
(E) The voter’s oath.
(F) The applicant’s email address and phone number, which shall be optional to provide.
(2) A motor vehicle driver’s license or nondriver identification card application shall
provide the following statements:
(A) “By signing and submitting this application, you are authorizing the Department of
Motor Vehicles to transmit this application to the Secretary of State for voter registration
purposes. YOU MAY DECLINE TO REGISTER. Both the office through which you submit this
application and your decision of whether or not to register will remain confidential
and will be used for voter registration purposes only.”
(B) “In order to be registered to vote, you must: (1) be a U.S. citizen; (2) be a resident
of Vermont; (3) have taken the voter’s oath; and (4) be 18 years of age or older.
Any person meeting the requirements of (1)-(3) who will be 18 years of age on or before
the date of a general election may register and vote in the primary election immediately
preceding that general election. Failure to decline to register is an attestation
that you meet the requirements to vote.”
(3) A motor vehicle driver’s license or nondriver identification card application shall
provide the penalties provided by law for submission of a false voter registration
application and shall require the signature of the applicant, under penalty of perjury.
(c) An application for voter registration under this section shall update any previous
voter registration by the applicant. Any change of address form submitted to the Department
of Motor Vehicles in connection with an application for a motor vehicle driver’s license
shall serve to update voter registration information previously provided by the voter,
unless the voter states on the form that the change of address is not for voter registration
purposes.
(d)(1) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall transmit motor vehicle driver’s license and
nondriver identification card applications received under this section to the Secretary
of State not later than five days after the date the application was accepted by the
Department, or before the date of any primary or general election, whichever is sooner.
(2) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall not transmit motor vehicle driver’s license
and nondriver identification card applications when the Department does not have proof
of U.S. citizenship for an applicant and the applicant has failed to attest to U.S.
citizenship, or when the applicant has designated that the applicant declines to be
registered.
(3) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall ensure confidentiality of records as required
by subdivision (b)(2)(A) of this section.
(e) The Secretary shall promptly transmit applications received under this section to
the clerks of the appropriate municipalities.
(f) In transmitting applications received under this section, the Secretary shall ensure
compliance with the requirements of 15 V.S.A. chapter 21, subchapter 3.
(g) If a person who is ineligible to vote becomes registered to vote pursuant to this
section in the absence of a violation of subsection 2145(f) of this chapter, that
person’s registration shall be presumed to have been effected with official authorization
and not the fault of that person.
(h) The Secretary shall take appropriate measures to educate the public about voter registration
under this section.
(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (d) of this section or any other provision
of law to the contrary, the Department of Motor Vehicles shall share its motor vehicle
driver’s license, driver privilege card, and nondriver identification card customer
data with the Secretary of State’s office for the Secretary’s use in conducting voter
registration and voter checklist maintenance activities. (Added 1997, No. 47, § 5; amended 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2015, No. 44, § 5, eff. Jan. 1, 2017; 2015, No. 80 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 2017; 2019, No. 67, § 6; 2025, No. 70, § 37, eff. June 25, 2025.)