H.541 would create new penalties as clerks report disruptions during elections

By Mona Abou, for the Community News Service

Lincoln town clerk Sally Ober opened up her email days before the 2016 election. She found what she described as a disturbing email that included a seven-page manifesto informing her that there was a CIA terrorist cult in Vermont and that people were going to die if she didn’t pay attention. Ober wasn’t sure whether to ignore it or report it.

Ober, who has served as an election official for almost 20 years, said she has come to expect these kinds of messages ahead of federal elections ever since 6. She said the problem is not just the threats themselves, but the way they interfere with running an election.

“All of these incidents are distracting from doing the work that we clerks need to do to be well prepared for running free and fair elections,” she told the House Committee on Judiciary on Jan. 15.

Ober’s testimony was in support of H.541, a bill that would create a new section of Vermont law, prohibiting interference with voters and election officials. 

As passed by the House, the bill would make it illegal to intimidate, threaten or coerce a person in an attempt to interfere with their right to vote; pressure a person to vote a certain way; or obstruct the administration of an election. If violated, the offender could be fined up to $2,000, spend up to two years in prison, or both.

The bill also keeps an existing law in place that can fine offenders $1,000 for similar actions, such as exposing someone’s ballot or attempting to influence their vote. 

Rep. Ian Goodnow, D-Windham-9, the bill’s main sponsor, said H.541 came after conversations with Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas and his own experiences helping run elections as a justice of the peace.

“Over the years, I have seen the tension at the polls and some of the rhetoric around elections has really changed,” he said in an interview with Community News Service. 

Goodnow said the shift put local election officials on the front lines, as they are often the ones interacting directly with voters. He had people from his community, like Brattleboro town clerk Hilary Francis, in mind when working on the bill.

“Anything we could do to create any kind of protections for people like Hilary who are working so hard for Vermonters, and they do it every year,” he said. “It’s a thankless task.”

Goodnow said the current political climate, and concerns about the integrity of democratic institutions, factored into his decision to sponsor the bill.

“Legislation like this can at least provide a little bit of a bulwark against some of those concerns,” he said. “Is it like the silver bullet? No. But it’s another tool in the toolbox for prosecutors to be able to take action against people who could potentially try to attack the integrity of an election process.”

Rep. Kate Nugent, D-Chittenden-10, the bill’s other sponsor, said H.541 is meant to extend protections already in place at the federal level to state and local elections. 

Nugent, who also worked on elections as a justice of the peace in South Burlington, said that experience motivated her to sponsor the bill.

“I think it’s the most fundamental part of our government,” she said in an interview with Community News Service.

Even with the bill aligning with federal law, Goodnow said there was some debate around First Amendment rights. 

“There’s a real concern to overstep, to create a chilling effect on the election process by creating a law that’s unconstitutional,” he said.

The House bill, which passed on Feb. 4, has been compared to Senate bill S.298, which would expand voters’ protections and accessibility. Lawmakers are still discussing how the two proposed bills might fit together, and will continue to discuss before taking further action.

Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship