By Guy Page
The name of Sen. Richard Sears (D-Bennington) will remain on the August 13 Democratic primary ballot, despite his unexpected death last weekend in an Albany, NY hospital at age 81.
Vermont election law does not permit changes after the May 30 (last Thursday) election filing deadline until after the primary election is held, the Vermont Secretary of State’s office told VDC yesterday, June 4 in response to an emailed inquiry. After the primary the county Democratic committee may nominate a candidate to fill his spot on the General Election ballot.
The SOS also clarified how it intends to prevent voting in more than one primary, despite voters being given ballots for the Democratic, Republican and Progressive party primaries.
The Q&A appears below.
VDC: How will Dick Sears’ spot on the primary ballot change? Or will it?
SOS: The Secretary of State and our Office were sad to hear of Senator Sears’ passing. His spot on the primary ballot will not change, as Vermont law does not have provisions for changes after the Primary Election filing deadline but before the Primary Election. Because Senator Sears filed for the August Primary Election, he will remain on the ballot. If he wins on August 13th, he will then be withdrawn due to death and, per 17 V.S.A. § 2386, the party committee will then have seven days (ie by August 20) to nominate a candidate.
VDC: Will absentee ballots include all three parties? What’s to stop inadvertent or intentional voting in more than one primary? Is this a recent statutory requirement?
SOS: Regarding mechanisms to prevent votes in more than one primary, it is effectively the same for both in-person and absentee voting. The voter is given three ballots. They are required to return all three ballots – two unvoted and one voted. If they don’t return two unvoted ballots, they are deemed to have a defective ballot. Per 17 V.S.A. § 2547, “the ballot or the unopened certificate envelope shall be marked ‘defective’ and the ballot shall not be counted” if “in the case of a primary vote, the early or absentee voter has failed to return the unvoted primary ballots.
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Categories: Elections
If the ballots are already printed, then his name should remain, if not then his name should not appear on the ballot………….. Let him rest in peace !!
I’ll vote for him.
We have dead people voting, why not vote for a dead candidate? New Jersey just elected a dead congressman. In all fairness, most politicians and bureaucrats are seemingly dead from the neck up anyway because it pays so well.
Or some candidates are in fact dead but identify as still being alive. Like Joe Biden. PAUSE.
Aloha to ALL – Although I had a chuckle and concur with the commentary sentiments, I’ll offer this perspective – Ballot printing should coincide with State Filing Deadlines if we are to continue to have this clown-world-Pirate Criminal System still in place which is propping up and supporting, in most cases our fellow Human Beings aka ‘very well paid minions/gatekeepers’ by ‘taxpayers funds’ who are [loyal to the point of Stockholm Syndrome] and only in place to take their marching order from the layers above them I coin “Elite/Villian Officialdom” There should be NO DEAD people on any Ballot!!! What is the POINT of having any of this charade/trickery political system in place including the below link pdf narrative, if Human Beings are going to usurp and/or just go along with everything that allows such nonsense. WE the PEOPLE don’t need to fund the positions below if they aren’t paying attention to their own seat position created ‘edicts’ & ‘policies’ that are allowing DEAD people on Ballots. These paid positions can be turned into VOLUNTEER positions. Because if you take the ‘money/currency’ out of the equation, you see how fast all this nonsense stops. https://outside.vermont.gov/dept/sos/Elections%20Division/town%20clerks%20and%20local%20elections/election%20procedure/2022%20Election%20Procedures/Election%20Procedures%202024.pdf
A guide for Town Clerks, Presiding Officers, Representative District Clerks,
Senatorial District Clerks, County Clerks, Boards of Civil Authority, Election Officials, Candidates and Voters. Prepared by the Office of the Vermont Secretary of State,
Elections Division, December 2023 – Office of the Secretary of State, Elections Division, 128 State St., Montpelier, VT 05633-1101, Phone: (802) 828-2363 or Toll-Free (800) 439-8683, On the web: http://sos.vermont.gov/elections – E-Mail: sos.elections@vermont.gov – The Vermont Constitution: A Word on Elections, Chapter I, Article 8 of the Vermont Constitution requires: “That all elections ought to be free and without corruption, and that all voters, having a sufficient, evident, common interest with, and attachment to the community, have a right to elect, officers, and be elected to office, agreeably to the regulations made in this constitution.” This is not just a homily. The purity and basic fairness of Vermont elections is both a philosophical, and practical objective of our social and political lives as Vermonters. We begin this review of the Primary and General elections by proudly repeating the purposes of the Vermont election laws, as explained in 17 V.S.A. §2101: • to provide equal opportunity for all citizens of voting age to participate in political processes; • to assure that political campaigns are fairly and honestly conducted and financed; • to define unacceptable conduct among political candidates and public servants; • to ensure that public service will be in the public interest, rather than the special interest, of groups or individuals; • to encourage citizens to become more actively involved in the political processes which affect the quality of life; and • to provide uniform practices and procedures in the conduct of elections throughout the state.
Introduction -Vermonters care deeply that our elections are free, fair, and accessible to all eligible voters. Members of our Boards of Civil Authority are key to ensuring this constitutional function is carried out every election. Free, fair, and accessible elections are about far more than voter checklists and election night reporting. Clerks, BCAs, candidates, and voters all have deadlines to meet and a role to play in maintaining the confidence we all have in our elections. At the Office of the Secretary of State we work hard to help ensure that Vermont’s elections are run in a proper and legal manner. The “2024 Election Procedures–A Guide for Election Officials” is
designed to be used as an overview of the election process and as a step-by-step reference for election officials for conducting elections. This guide is supplemented during the election year by Elections Bulletins sent out by the Elections Division to the town clerks as a reminder of the various requirements of election administration as deadlines near. A detailed 2024 Elections Calendar is available on the Elections page of the Secretary of State’s web – site at https://sos.vermont.gov/elections-calendar.
This year, Vermont will be holding the Presidential Primary in March, at the same time as Town Meeting. The three major parties will be holding primaries the second Tuesday of August: Democratic, Progressive, and Republican. It is a year in which we will elect the US President and Vice-President, one of our U.S. Senators, our U.S. Representative, all six statewide offices, all 30 members of the State Senate, all 150 members of the Vermont House of Representatives, high bailiffs, and justices of the peace. I am proud of the excellent Elections Division staff here at the Secretary of State’s office. Whether you are a Clerk, BCA member, candidate, or voter in Vermont, we are here to answer your questions. Together we can ensure Vermont’s elections are free, fair, and accessible. We look forward to serving you. Sarah Copeland Hanzas
Secretary of State – Will Senning, Director, 828-0175 – Tammy Sink, Assistant Director, 828-3721 – Lori Bjornlund, Elections Administrator, 828-2464 – J.P. Isabelle, Elections Administrator, 828-2304 – Dan Brown, Elections Administrator, 828-0771