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by Election Integrity Network-Vermont
This past fall, the Vermont chapter of the Election Integrity Network began making the case for why Vermont needs a Voter ID law ASAP. Our social media campaign cited testimony from top Vermont election officials and Town and City Clerks that in Vermont:
- Stolen and fraudulently submitted absentee ballots “will likely be processed” and the victimized citizens will be “checked off the [voter] checklist as having voted.” (See Video)
- Large- and small-scale absentee ballot fraud “is an opportunity that’s out there” given Vermont’s all-mail ballot system and lack of ballot integrity/security measures. (See Video)
- And, “We can’t necessarily stop…” anyone from committing absentee ballot fraud. (See Video)
Vermont now mails over half a million absentee ballots to every person on the voter checklist (unless formally challenged) for general elections without request, creating a large pool of unclaimed, unwanted, and misdirected “live” absentee ballots that can be abused to impact the outcome of local elections.
Without safeguards – and currently Vermont has virtually none – these ballots can be stolen, collected, or purchased, filled out by one person willing to sign the names on the envelopes to whom the ballot was addressed, then submitted by USPS or at an unsupervised drop box, all with no oversight by election officials, no means of verifying the validity of the votes, and with virtually zero chance of detection, capture, or prosecution.
Given that this is how roughly two thirds of voting now takes place in Vermont, we find this lack of ballot security unacceptable.
Requiring some form of Voter ID when casting a ballot either in person or by mail that election officials can use to verify that the person to whom a ballot is being attributed is, in fact, the voter casting the ballot is critical for ensuring the accuracy of elections and safeguarding the bedrock principle of one person/one vote.
Such ID can include a drivers’ license or state-issued ID (provided for free for those who can’t afford), the last four digits of one’s Social Security number, passport, and/or other potential options.
Our goal is to make it easy to vote, impossible to cheat. Every eligible voter has the right to vote – once. Nobody has the right to vote multiple times by stealing the identities and the ballots of other citizens on the voter checklist. Every time this happens, a legitimate voter is disenfranchised by having their vote canceled out by an illegitimate vote – no less so for not knowing that the disenfranchisement occurred.
Vermonters deserve an election system we can be confident is accurate and reflects one person/one vote. That doesn’t exist without giving election officials a common sense means of verifying the identity and properly counting each person casting a ballot.
If you agree that the Vermont legislature needs to pass a common sense voter ID law when they return to the State House in January 2026, please help us to achieve that goal by signing the petition HERE.
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Categories: Commentary, Elections
If Voter ID is linked to the votes, what is to stop the government from using this to track how you voted? The honor system? I imagine a new Supermajority would LOVE that ability, be able to weed out opponents. There HAVE to be checks against that.
Presenting ID to receive a ballot doesn’t allow the state to see how you voted. However, with vote by mail there is really nothing stopping whoever opens your envelope and processes your ballot from seeing (and recording?) how you voted.
All for it, as is nearly 80% of the citizenry though polling, though passage will of course be fought tooth & nail by the democrat party. And I’m certain safeguards can and have been instituted in order to protect the integrity of the election process as far as this is concerned.
But insofar as far as this “privacy” issue regarding how I voted, I’d personally prefer to “sacrifice” whatever it takes including facetiously “broadcasting my selections over a public P.A. system” rather than allow for the continuation of the suspected and oftentimes proven fraud within the current election processes.
Permitting such fraud to continue because of potentially unfounded fears undermines every free and fair election we all deserve to be participating in.
Maybe my calculator is messed up, but there are 471,161 registered voters in Vermont and they sent out over a half million ballots. Am I wrong thinking that 30,000 extra ballots were sent? To whom?
Perhaps that “over a half a million” number is inaccurate.
That was the figure in the second paragraph but the source for that number was not given so your guess is as good as mine.
Not to mention, the cost:
2 envelopes, (one to the voter, one back to the clerk)
the ballot,
and prepaid postage whether you mail it, or bring it in person to vote.
Currently, if you forget your mail-in, you need to sign a form at the polls, or go back home and retrieve it.
There are 522,600 registered voters in VT as of 2024. https://sos.vermont.gov/elections/election-info-resources/elections-results-data/
And how many of them have died or moved away?
Dan, around 10,000 people move out of Vermont every year and a little over 6000 on average die. So over a two year election cycle you’re probably talking about 30,000 people who need to be removed from the voter checklist — or they will be sent a ballot despite no longer living here. Every one of those ballots is an easy opportunity for fraud.
One of my neighbors died then his wife moved away in early 2024. The people that bought the property received four ballots, two for themselves and two for the former owners. Being honest they threw the extras into the fire pit. In reality, I guess they could have voted twice.
Maduro’s Capture Raises Questions of US Election Fraud Linked to Venezuelan Voting Machines This is a headline from Lifesite News and it correlates well with the information that surfaced about Dominion voting machines and Smartmatics involved in election fraud in Venezuela in Aug. 24, just before the US elections. More on this at https://conta.cc/3YSjj3b
“All comments without real full names will be unapproved or trashed.” Rules for some, but not for all?
Brian Karen?
We are well-past the conspiracy theory argument. Ask the people who got caught in other States. It’s time to do something or do we have to wait for another political party to feel the consequences then everyone will be in agreement?
Bring in the Feds!
Clean house.
Sec of State is rooking every Vermonter!!!
What a crooked cooked racket run by a bunch of loony crooked progressives.
They should be put in jail!
You know that ,given this ,any opposition stands no chance…it is criminal.
Call in Team Trump to police Vermont elections!
Instead Charity is suing to keep them out !!!
Signed the petition.
Thank you for your work, members of Election Integrity Network.
BRING IT!
So many unsubstantiated allegations here.
Did you watch the videos in the links? Every allegation is substantiated.
You have to show an ID to buy beer or cigarettes then you should have to show an ID to vote. This is a no-brainer and it should’ve been a law nationwide. If you are not a US legal citizen, you should not be voting.
I’m 72 year old and needed to show my drivers license to buy beer, so why not to vote
As flattering as it might seem at the time, showing your drivers license to someone younger than your grand child is a little ridiculous. Try to buy some Sudafed.
To all VDC commenters –
As stated since late 2025, in 2026 all commenters must be Sustaining Subscribers.
Most regular commenters already are Sustaining Subscribers. To you we say THANK YOU!, you are the reason why 2025 was another record year for views on http://www.vermontdailychronicle.com: 2.6 million. Again, thank you so much.
A Sustaining Subscriber is someone who from November 1 – January 1 made an annual contribution of $108, either by check or online, or who became an online $9/monthly contributor before January 1.
Also, since January 2025 we have been (albeit gradually) enforcing our policy of requiring full names for all commenters. The latter is meant to promote transparency and genuine discourse. The former is an economic decision intended to enhance the longterm sustainability of VDC.
Both of these policies will take full effect this coming week. As non-subscribers and commenters not using their full names (first initial, full last name not preferred but will be accepted) will not be permitted to comment, full stop. We have allowed a week or more in order to ensure that late arrivals of 2025 contributions and procrastinators are accounted for. This week, the online giving link will be updated for 2026, with $11/month and $132/year.
Please note: if you are not yet a Sustaining Subscriber, please subscribe immediately online. Or send a check to VDC, P.O. Box 1547, Montpelier VT 05601 and email us at news@vermontdailychronicle.com that a check is coming.
VDC readers who are not Sustaining Subscribers still have several outlets for expressing their opinions. VDC remains free to read to all subscribers, including those who subscribe with pseudonyms or anonymously, and on our Facebook and X pages. Commenting on all news and commentary is free on the VDC Facebook and X pages. Also, all readers using their full names are invited to submit letters to the editor and commentaries for consideration, at no cost.
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Based on my election work experiences, a couple of responses are warranted.
1) Town Clerk efforts to keep the checklists current (which they do care about) is restricted by the requirement that voters cannot be removed unless they have not voted in two federal election cycles. That is eight years! This creates a huge vulnerability – made worse by the universal mailed ballot policy/practice.
2) Vermont’s voter eligibility/residency definition is worthless. College students (who may also be registered out- of-state) are allowed to register and vote here (even if they live in a dormitory). These students graduate, leave town and remain on checklist. This too, creates a pool of rogue ballots. In addition, voters are not required to remove there names when they move.
3) And finally, the processing of mailed ballots is supervised by town clerks and election officials. The details of this practice do not allow for vote tracking. This concern (for VT) is misguided.
To all VDC commenters –
As stated since late 2025, in 2026 all commenters must be Sustaining Subscribers.
Most regular commenters already are Sustaining Subscribers. To you we say THANK YOU!, you are the reason why 2025 was another record year for views on http://www.vermontdailychronicle.com: 2.6 million. Again, thank you so much.
A Sustaining Subscriber is someone who from November 1 – January 1 made an annual contribution of $108, either by check or online, or who became an online $9/monthly contributor before January 1.
Also, since January 2025 we have been (albeit gradually) enforcing our policy of requiring full names for all commenters. The latter is meant to promote transparency and genuine discourse. The former is an economic decision intended to enhance the longterm sustainability of VDC.
Both of these policies will take full effect this coming week. As non-subscribers and commenters not using their full names (first initial, full last name not preferred but will be accepted) will not be permitted to comment, full stop. We have allowed a week or more in order to ensure that late arrivals of 2025 contributions and procrastinators are accounted for. This week, the online giving link will be updated for 2026, with $11/month and $132/year.
Please note: if you are not yet a Sustaining Subscriber, please subscribe immediately online. Or send a check to VDC, P.O. Box 1547, Montpelier VT 05601 and email us at news@vermontdailychronicle.com that a check is coming.
VDC readers who are not Sustaining Subscribers still have several outlets for expressing their opinions. VDC remains free to read to all subscribers, including those who subscribe with pseudonyms or anonymously, and on our Facebook and X pages. Commenting on all news and commentary is free on the VDC Facebook and X pages. Also, all readers using their full names are invited to submit letters to the editor and commentaries for consideration, at no cost.
If you have any questions, please email me at news@vermontdailychronicle.com. Thank you for your attention to this matter,
Guy Page, Publisher
One needs to show more proof of identity to shop at Costco than to vote
I work for the USPS, some households were getting ballots of people who no longer lived there for years. I remember many people saying they were going to fill them out anyway. Some addresses were getting over 10 ballots.