By Michael Bielawski
A discrepancy between federal 2022 Vermont election totals and the state’s canvass report has not been explained by Vermont Secretary of State officials, despite inquiries by VDC.
The differing totals were reported by former military fraud detector Col. Shawn Smith at an event titled “Elections: Are They Secure?” in Middlebury during late August at Valley Bible Church. The event was hosted by Dr. Douglass Frank, a noble-prize-nominated physicist and a leader in the election integrity movement.
Mismatches in 2022 election tallies?
Different numbers for the 2022 election outcome spanning two state documents and federal data were noted by Smith and VDC notified the Secretary of State’s office by email.
Smith notes that the 2022 EAVS report indicates 446,000 active registered voters and 55% turned out for about 245,000 votes. In the same document, a pie chart indicates 286,000 votes.
On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission published the biennial Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS) Comprehensive Report, an analysis of state-by-state data that covers various topics related to the administration of federal elections.
Smith then points out the state’s canvass report notes 506,666 registered voters and 291,955 votes. These are also the numbers that the Secretary of State’s Office told VDC are the correct tallies. They did not comment on where the different tallies from the EAVs report or the federal government come from.
The Secretary’s office Director of Elections and Campaign Finance Seán Sheehan wrote to VDC on Aug. 27, “For the official results of the 2022 general election, please see the 2022 canvass report and turnout report at [the election results page]. Both state 291,955 votes and 506,666 registered voters.”
VDC reached out for additional explanation but has not yet received any.
At his August presentation, Smith sounded uneasy about the varying vote tallies.
“So now we have two different numbers for voter registration from the same organization and three different numbers for turnout,” he said. He further noted that 291,955 is 57% of 506,666, not 55% as claimed in the EAVs report.
Adding another number into the mix, Smith notes the U.S. census count for Vermont’s registered voters in 2022 was about 393,000, not 446,000 (EAVs) or 506,666 (the canvas report).
“The fact that they couldn’t do that math or report a conflict makes me skeptical that they are examining anything else,” Smith said.
Smith’s whole hour-plus segment of the day-long election integrity event can be seen here.
Electronic voting vulnerabilities
Smith noted that the Dominion machines – as used in Vermont – have numerous vulnerabilities including they are manufactured outside the nation without chain of custody controls. They have also recently in the news recently when Russian codes were found on them in New Hampshire and in January a man in federal court showed how they can be hacked with a common Bic pen.
Smith called Vermont’s trust in these machines “ignorant and ludicrous.”
Smith noted that claims by election workers that electronic voting machines are safe from manipulation because they are “air-gapped” from the Internet are unconvincing because of how easily that can be overcome with common plug-in devices.
He says that most election workers are well meaning but the vulnerabilities of electronic voting are beyond what most general public and government officials understand.
Supports lawsuit in Burlington
Smith said he endorses an ongoing lawsuit in Burlington regarding the national organization Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE) and their position against non-citizen voting in the Queen City.
About half the audience raised their hands when asked if they heard about the case in the media.
“That is absolutely a violation of Vermont’s Constitution,” Smith said via a video-screen display from another location. “But it’s interesting because there are so many other things that your state is doing, and I don’t want you to feel bad because your state is not by far the worst, not even close. It’s this bad everywhere.”
Voter Fraud vs. Election Fraud
Smith said that both are signs of larger vulnerabilities, it’s election fraud when large amounts of votes can be switched and sometimes impact an election outcome.
“Election fraud is much larger scale like credit card fraud is opposed to pick-pocketing,” he explained. “And there are almost no resources for the federal or state government that are dedicated to looking at it.”
Smith explained that the civil rights divisions of the Department of Justice and FBI only seem interested in making sure there is easy access to voting.
Always transparency
Smith said that there should not be limitations set by Vermont’s Secretary of State’s Office regarding access to election-related data. He said that whenever there are any restrictions, it is a red flag for a cover-up.
“Forensic [investigations] means you have to have access to everything,” Smith said. “The moment you are not given access to anything deliberately, you can immediately suspect that internal controls have failed… and they are perpetrating the fraud.”
RITE not quite RIGHT?
Smith shared his reservations about RITE. While he endorses the organization’s lawsuit in Burlington, he noted that former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr sits on the organization’s board.
Smith alleged that while in federal office Barr’s assistant presented evidence largely brought in by civilians from Michigan, Wisconsin, and Georgia of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Smith alleges that Barr then shut down further investigation despite telling the public he had never seen such evidence.
“He [Barr] is the one who told the assistant U.S. attorney to stand down and not investigate,” Smith said.
Constitutional violations?
Smith gave an example of a routine Constitutional violation during Vermont’s elections regarding the way tabulators are used to instantly tally votes. He noted that it’s against Vermont law to tally votes before the polls are formally closed.
“If you scan a ballot into a tabulator… it’s being counted,” he said. “It’s being counted and that machine can be remotely accessed and connected and you would never know it.”
VDC has reported that current polls indicate that many Americans believe fraud impacts federal elections.
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle
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