The results and winners of statewide and federal races in the August Primary Election were certified as official at the meeting of the canvassing committee on Monday, August 22, the Vermont Secretary of State’s office announced today.
Almost 134,000 votes were cast. Of the 809 defective ballots, 492 were “cured” by voters under a new state law – leaving only 317 ballots unable to be counted.
After thousands of ballots were determined to be defective in 2020, a new state law allows voters can ‘cure’ defective mail-in ballots. Town clerks would notify voters of defects (unsigned envelopes, unreturned ballots of primaries in which voters did not participate), and voters could either submit amended ballots if they chose.
Also, the canvass shows that of the 500,692 registered voters, 133,578 cast ballots in the primary. 102,408 cast ballots in the Democratic Party primary. A mere 610 voted in the Progressive Party Primary. 30,560 voted in the Republican Party primary.
Secretary Condos, along with Chairs or their designees from the three major parties (Democratic, Republican and Progressive) certified vote totals and winners for all federal and statewide offices. The results and canvass report can be found on the Secretary of State’s website.
“The tri-partisan certification of election results as official is an important step in verifying the accuracy and integrity of our election results,” said Condos. “Vermonters deserve to have 100% confidence that official vote totals accurately reflect the ballots cast by voters. That is why results are carefully reviewed and certified by a member of each major political party.”
At the meeting of the canvassing committee Secretary Condos celebrated the new ballot curing provisions of Vermont’s election laws.
“Vermont’s low defective ballot rate, and the fact the majority of defective ballots were able to be cured by voters under the new law, is proof that when you work to remove barriers to the voting process more people are able to successfully exercise their civic right to vote,” said Condos.
Of the 133,578 ballots cast only 809 were deemed defective. 492 were cured by voters under the new law, leaving 317 defective ballots that were unable to be counted and a very low defective ballot rate under 0.25%.
“The combination of better instructions, voter familiarity, and ballot curing has worked,” Condos said. “Every vote counts. That’s why we have worked so hard to make sure every vote is counted. I want to thank the Legislature and advocates who worked with us to create a ballot curing process that works.”