To the Editor:

Election season is always a fun time of year.  Especially for middle aged men like myself that’s otherwise lost his sense of humor.  It’s cathartic to find something to laugh about once in a while!

Behold something to laugh about:

I got my official “Vermont General Ballot” in the mail a few days ago.  It’s still a really new thing for me to get a ballot in the mail.  I’m still used to going in to the local school to vote.  I kind of miss the old days of going in there and having all the teachers look at me while I picked up and marked my ballot.  I used to put on my best behavior.  I don’t know why, but I guess I just didn’t want to get points off on my ballot or something.

But these new mail ballots are kinda funny.  These here new ones even have this funny little mark on them.  My daughter tells me “Oh, Dad, that’s just a QR code so you can get to the website menu.  Use your cell phone!”

Well, Ok, I told her.  But it seems a little odd to use my cell phone to vote.  Especially knowing what’s on my cell phone. [You do NOT want to see what’s on my cell phone].

So I pointed my cell phone camera at that little bugger printed right there on my ballot.  By Gosh, it didn’t give me a web site, but it gave me a bunch of numbers and letters!

That seems really funny, to me!  Why would they put a bunch of numbers in a code that only a machine can read?  Now if it went to a local store for a coupon for a free coffee, I’d smile.  But this little code made me laugh out loud.

I showed my kiddo and asked what she thought it meant.  “Hu.  Looks like an Identification Code?  Maybe they want to know who’s ballot it is?”

I just about doubled up laughing at that idea!  No way can a free and fair democratic voting system put identification codes ON the ballot!  I wouldn’t have even thought about that myself, but my daughter is still fairly young, so she didn’t understand how serious voting is, and that free Americans demand Secret ballots.  This was a great teaching moment, and I explained all that to her, and about how bad it would be if someone could learn how you vote: only loyal party people would ever get the job or get promoted.  

Then I took a closer look at the Code on my mailed ballot.  Sure enough, it looks like an ID.  I checked with my neighbors and some friends down the street.  Yup.  Everyone has a different number on their mailed ballot.

This year, I think I’ll go into my town clerk’s office and get a clean copy.  One without a QR Identification code.  Then I can drop that baby into the drop box or vote in person and don’t have to worry about if someone is watching how I vote.  {Just between you and me, I put down Elvis for Mayor this year}.

I might even keep that beauty and put it up on my wall in a frame.  Any time I want a good laugh, I’ll just walk up to it and point my cell phone camera at it!

-Seth Adam Manley

The author is a Republican candidate for the Essex House seat now held by Democrats Lori Houghton and Karen Dolan. When asked by VDC about the ID codes, Secretary of State spokesman Bryan Mills responded: “The codes on the ballots we mail out to everyone are for making sure they go to the correct voting district – used by the vendor to map out where ballots are sent.”

Vote “yes” on Prop 4:

On November 3,  you can vote “yes” to amend the Vermont Constitution to include Proposal 4, Equal Protection of Law. The legislature has already passed it – twice – and now is our turn as voters.

Vermont’s Constitution, adopted in 1777, does not have an equal protection clause that prohibits discrimination based on a person’s race, sex, religion, or other characteristics. Prop 4 addresses historical gaps in our constitution and strengthens civil rights.

The proposed amendment says: “The State shall not deny equal treatment under the law on account of a person’s race, ethnicity, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or national origin.”

Adding Prop 4 to the constitution is important because constitutional rights are permanent. The legislature will have a constitutional mandate to adopt laws that ensure all people in Vermont are treated with equal dignity and respect. The executive branch of the state will also be bound by this obligation. This is particularly significant because we can no longer count on the federal government or Supreme Court to provide adequate protection against discrimination.

Prop 4 makes clear that our founding document stands for everyone who calls Vermont home.

It’s our turn to make history. Let’s vote YES on Prop 4.

-Benjamin Littenberg, MD, Burlington

It’s time for new leadership in Montpelier for affordability:

On November 3, 2026, Vermonters will have an important opportunity to decide the future direction of our state. After three decades of Democratic legislative leadership, we must ask a straightforward question: Are Vermont families better off today, or are they struggling to afford the lives they worked hard to build? Many Vermonters feel the Democrats progressive experiment has loudly failed!

For too many working families, the answer is clear. Vermont has become increasingly expensive, housing is difficult to find, energy costs are burdensome, and state government spending has increase 62% in just the last 7 years which continues to put pressure on working families and business owners, and all taxpayers. We cannot keep doing the same things and expect different results. Vermont needs new leadership, fresh thinkers, fiscal responsibiliy, and common-sense solutions.

Consider education. Vermont taxpayers are being asked to support public-school budgets with per-pupil spending exceeding $30,000, while student enrollment declines and academic performance remains a concern. Our children deserve an excellent education, but taxpayers also deserve accountability. We must examine where the money goes, measure results, and ensure every education dollar serves students effectively, with no fluff or student matrix. Get the union bosses out of the way.

Healthcare is another serious concern. Vermonters face expensive insurance, rising medical costs, and difficult choices about their coverage and care. Families should not have to wonder whether they can afford healthcare while state government continues expanding its reach. We need greater affordability, transparency, competition, and meaningful choices for patients. During the Shumlin years they tried Signle payer, Shumlin pulled the plug because of its cost. Many of the then regulations for a single payer system are still in place, chief among them, is the Green Mtn. Care Board, it failed miserably. Repeal it now.

Then there is Vermont’s financial future. State spending, pension obligations, and other long-term commitments demand honest accounting and responsible planning. A serious issue is our Teachers and State employees retirement system, which is $5 billion unfunded pension system. That number deserves careful examination against current actuarial reports, but the underlying question is unavoidable: Who will pay for promises that government has not fully funded? We cannot leave an overwhelming financial burden to our children and grandchildren.

Economic development is non-existent in Vermont, Democrat-Progressives have led us to be 50th in the Nation, last place for economic development. How does that happen? It must be a highly priority. Vermont needs businesses that create good-paying jobs, attract younger working families, expand the tax base, and give our children reasons to build their futures here. Excessive regulations, high costs, and uncertainty can discourage investment. Protecting Vermont’s character should go hand in hand with creating opportunities for prosperity.

Our energy policies must be judged by their effect on household budgets and employers. Reliable, affordable energy is essential to economic growth and a reasonable cost of living.

“We The People” must make our voices heard, loudly and with self-respect. This election is not about political labels; it is about Vermont families and taxpayers, its about results, accountability, and the future of Vermont. Democrats have held legislative majorities for thirty plus years, and voters have every right to demand a different approach.

On November 3, Vote for common sense, responsible spending, affordable living, better opportunities, and new leadership in the Vermont Legislature.

Vermont deserves better. Our families deserve better. Our future depends on it.

-Gregory M. Thayer, Rutland

To the Editor:

Governor Scott’s office should not send more funds or support to confront Burlington’s homelessness, drug addiction, and public safety crises until the city takes forceful steps to clean up issues under its control.

Minimally, the city should be expected to do the following.

1. Engage, lobby and publicly insist that all repeat offenders, regardless of race, color, or creed, be held accountable and kept off the streets.

2. Empower and provide the police force with funds and support to aggressively crack down on illicit drug use. 

3. Ban encampments and loitering in city parks as wells as on sidewalks and doorways. No individual shall have the right to interfere or obstruct the free and uninterrupted use and enjoyment of these resources by the general population. See Lewiston, Maine’s model ordinance: https://www.lewistonmaine.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/5505

4. Adopt an ordinance prohibiting panhandling on city streets, intersections, and access points. 

5. Form a task force to work with city departments, private property owners, and utilities to clean up graffiti, which in many cases has been festering untouched for years. Charge the group to perfect an approach based on successful programs around the world that have cleaned-up graffiti, apprehended taggers, and brought vandals to justice. For one example, see: https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/crimprev/crimprev-3

6. End the free “needle exchange” program which has recently distributed over 1 million syringes a year while receiving less than half that amount back from users.

7. Endorse involuntary commitment of severely addicted and mentally ill people into one or more secure facilities (not free access to motels which often end up trashed) where they can be properly diagnosed and receive the specialized treatment they desperately need. 

-Jack Scully