By Rick Naigle, EPEC Data Senior Analyst
[EPEC Team is delving into new election laws that are coming online in Virginia, and their impact on voter-list accuracy. Today’s analysis looks at empty spaces in voter registration lists.]
As Senior Data Analyst for Electoral Process Education Corporation (EPEC Team), I recently analyzed Virginia’s Registered Voter List (RVL) after we noticed a higher-than-usual number of registrations using the same address.
We found the appearance of blank spaces in the address fields of many of these addresses in the RVL — out of hundreds of thousands of registrations with blank spaces in address lines (as of May 16, 2026).
This may be explainable, but it is also a problem with no rational explanation for data quality. General Registrars need to treat these as security weaknesses in voter lists to be addressed in their maintenance duties.
Why does this matter?
When we audit data, we look for patterns. For example, if bad actors were intent upon manipulating a voter list to create faulty or duplicate registrations, one method would be to insert virtually undetectable “errors” into the data set during the process of filling out registration fields in an online portal.
The “inserted errors” with empty spaces might serve two purposes.
One: Blank spaces create opportunities to extract a voter registration by using those extra character spaces as a kind of filtering device. A third party could manipulate them into something else in the voter registration records. Empty spaces can be used to bank defective registrations, which can be extracted and changed by filtering “empty characters” in the dataset.
Two: Empty spaces in address fields are difficult for General Registrars to detect during the intake process. The introduction of blank spaces in certain required fields in the record can prevent GRs from validating whether voter registration records are being altered later on.
This is an important issue in Virginia, given that we see last-character errors in the address lines of 315,251 voter registration records (as of May 16, 2026).
That represents nearly 5% of Virginia’s 6.4 million registrations which contain errors in address lines that could be prone to manipulation (such as duplication).
Of those 315,251 entries with last-character errors, we also see 8,126 records missing the entire “Address Line 1” fields. These may be what are known as “protected voters” whose status allows them to keep their residency address from public data for security. We filtered those records out of our analysis. (See chart below of totals.)
We observed these registrations with empty spaces (extra character spaces) while analyzing a higher-than-usual number of registrations that are using the same address.
Bottom line: Empty spaces, or blank characters that are left in the address fields of a registered voter record may look like innocent mistakes in data entry — but are ripe for exploitation. They can be used to manipulate voter records and generate fraudulent ballot requests, for example.
Analysis Methodology
My analysis began by reviewing higher-than-normal registrations using the same address (outside of apartment buildings that share a same street address, for example).
After generating a table with total voters, using the “Address Line” field, I noticed multiple instances of the same entries that suggested a large number of voters at a specific address.
Using a “Trim” command, a data-analysis formula to remove all excess spaces within a data string, we still found duplicate “Address Line 1” entries in the records.
I then used another data-analysis filtering method known as the “RIGHT” command, which returns the last character (or characters in a text string), based on the number of characters specified, to extract those “blank spaces.”
With that filter, we found 244,411 records in the RVL with last-character errors in the “Mailing Address Line 1” field.
None of these should be Null (an empty or blank field), and none of the 244,081 entries with an added blank space (or two) at the end of the field entry should have the extra character at the end of the field. This creates opportunities for manipulation.
Again, why does this matter?
Last character “errors” in a registration record’s “Address Line 1” entry make it harder to detect potentially fraudulent registrations. In this example, blank spaces could be used to manipulate address fields and request an estimated 50,000 questionable mail-in ballots.
What is the solution?
General Registrars need to work with database administrators to correct errors that create opportunities for manipulating address fields in registration records.
EPEC Team is happy to help point out these issues that need to be corrected. These types of errors are also the source of voter-record challenges that citizens have pointed out for years with General Registrars.
After July 1st, this all changes when a new law goes into effect. HB 640 targets citizens’ rights to challenge whether registrars are doing enough to update incomplete registrations or errors on rolls, often the source of eligibility challenges.
The new law eliminates the process by which any three voters could challenge a voter’s registration before the general registrar; such challenges may still be made by filing a petition with the circuit court of the county or city where the voter is registered.
The new law gives GRs a pass from even listening to their localities’ citizens about whether voter lists are accurate and contain required, material information.
Instead, citizens must go through the courts, adding a significant cost burden to their right to ensure voter records are being maintained accurately under federal and state statutes.
EPEC Team is looking into how the challenge process would unfold in local district courts. It appears that circuit courts are figuring out the new law, too.
We are delving into these issues this month, guided by an Election Bill Tracker list compiled by election experts Andi Bayer and Susan Hogge.
Working with citizen groups, they spent months following Virginia General Assembly debate and passage of the bills. They compiled the information into an easy-to-understand spreadsheet that is available to download — and will be updating the information on regular intervals as a service to the Commonwealth.
Download the Spreadsheet Here
EPEC Team and its partners are committed to raising the public’s knowledge of the these laws. We urge readers to download the tracker and understand their impact. #