by Bob Fireovid
If you followed the news in Vermont Daily about bill S.15, you know that this is a very bad bill. Here’s one exerpt…
“S.15 would turn Vermont into one of six states that relies primarily on vote-by-mail as a system for running elections. The major difference is that those other states all employ some type of voter ID for absentee ballots such as signature verification, a driver’s license number, last for digits of a Social Security number, etc. Vermont would have no such security measures, meaning that election officials will have no way to independently verify if a mailed out ballot was actually filled out and returned by the voter to whom the vote is being attributed. Additionally, in the event a ballot is cast fraudulently by mail and the legitimate voter shows up at the polls to vote, given thirty days of early processing of absentee ballots, there is no way to remove the fraudulent vote from the final count.”
And as Sen. Russ Ingalls wrote in Vermont Daily, “…in fact, when Secretary of State Condos was on a radio program a few weeks back, one caller in Middlebury who owned a large apartment building told how 25 mailed ballots left uncollected were seized, filled out and mailed in by college students. Ask any Town Clerk: how would you know where or who any ballot came from or who filled them out? There is no way to know. I voted no.”
In summary, S.15 will put Vermont in the dubious position of having the least secure voting system in the U.S., a system that is undeniably susceptible to large and small-scale voter fraud.
Do you want to give up your voting rights? No? Well then, we have ONE option left to kill this bill. We have to convince Gov. Scott to veto it, and we have to convince Republican legislators to oppose any effort by Democratic legislators to override the Governor’s veto. BTW, all Democratic and Progressive legislators voted in favor of S.15.
Use this online contact form to ask Gov. Phil Scott to veto S.15… https://governor.vermont.gov/email . Be respectful and to the point. Being nasty in any way will just give the Governor an excuse to sign the bill.
Second, below is a list of Republican and Independent legislators who voted in favor of S.15. If your Representative or Senator is on this list, you need to send them an email asking them to oppose an attempt by the General Assembly to override the Governor’s veto of S.15. Again, be brief and respectful. Don’t be nasty and give them an excuse to override. Their original vote for S.15 is in the past, let it go.
HOUSE
Scott Beck (R – St. Johnsbury)
SCOTTBECK7@GMAIL.COM
(802) 274-0201
Lynn Dickinson (R – St. Albans)
LDickinson@leg.state.vt.us
dickdickinson@comcast.net
(802) 524-3404
Anne Donahue (R – Northfield)
ADonahue@leg.state.vt.us
counterp@tds.net
ANNEDONAHUEW1@GMAIL.COM
(802) 485-6431
James Gregoire (R – Fairfield)
JGregoire@leg.state.vt.us
GREGOIRE11@SURFGLOBAL.NET
(802) 933-2667
James Harrison (R – Chittenden)
jharrison@leg.state.vt.us
(802) 236-3001
Mark Higley (R – Lowell)
mhigley@leg.state.vt.us
(802) 744-6379
Mary Howard (D – Rutland)
MHoward@leg.state.vt.us
(802) 775-1125
Robert LaClair (R – Barre)
RLaClair@leg.state.vt.us
ROBSPLOW@COMCAST.NET
(802) 371-9373
Paul Lefebvre (R – Newark)
PAUL@BARTONCHRONICLE.COM
(802) 467-8338 (Home)
Samantha Lefebvre (R – Orange)
Felisha Leffler (R – Enosburgh)
felicia@felicialeffler.com
(802) 782-9084
Michael Marcotte (R – Coventry)
MMarcotte@leg.state.vt.us
jimkwik@surfglobal.net
(802) 334-6302 (Home)
Christopher Mattos (R – Milton)
cmattos@leg.state.vt.us
(802) 922-2059
Francis McFaun (R – Barre)
FMcFaun@leg.state.vt.us
TOPPERMCFAUN@AOL.COM
(802) 522-7530
Barbara Murphy (I – Fairfax)
bmurphy@leg.state.vt.us
(802) 849-6545
John Palasik (R – Milton)
JPalasik@leg.state.vt.us
JPAL67@COMCAST.NET
(802) 893-4851
Brian Savage (R – Swanton)
BSavage@leg.state.vt.us
brianklynnb@comcast.net
(802) 868-3566 (Home)
Heidi Scheuermann (R – Stowe)
hscheuermann@leg.state.vt.us
(802) 253-2275
Charles “Butch” Shaw (R – Pittsford)
BUTCHSHAWS@AOL.COM
(802) 483-2398
Laura Sibilia (I – Dover)
lsibilia@leg.state.vt.us
(802) 348-7131
Casey Toof (R – St. Albans)
(802) 309-3522
SENATE
Joe Benning (R – Lyndonville)
(802) 626-3600
Randy Brock (R – St. Albans)
(802) 868-2300 (Home)
Corey Parent (R – St. Albans)
(802) 828-2228
(802) 370-0494 (Home)
Richard Westman (R – Cambridge)
(802) 644-2297 (Home)
—
The author is a South Hero resident.
Categories: Commentary
Great article and will definitely send ALL the representatives a letter regarding S15. Also the governor to Veto. However, even if the governor veto’s this horrendous bill, wouldn’t it still be passed with enough votes?
Democrats/Progressives no longer have a veto-proof majority (Thank God!).
In addition to yourself, remember to get everyone in your family and all your friends to ask Gov. Scott to veto S,15 too. Thank you!
The Republicans must stand together for once and stop this bill.