by the Ethan Allen Institute
An amendment to postpone implementation of universal vote-by-mail until after a 2023 election security study was rejected by the Vermont House of Representatives May 12 by a 39-99 vote. The House went on to approve the underlying bill, S15.
S.15 would make permanent the practice of mailing “live” absentee ballots to all active voters on the statewide checklist regardless of a request by the voter, starting with the 2022 general election. Thanks to tough negotiating in the House Government Operations Committee by freshman lawmaker Samantha Lefebvre and others, there is a provision in S.15 requiring the Secretary of State’s Office to study and report on options for incorporating absentee ballot security measures into the process, but this report is not due until 2023 – after an unsecure election has already have taken place. The [Rep. Vicki] Strong Amendment would delay implementation of vote-by-mail elections until after the SOS report on ballot security is complete, thus putting the horse before the cart where it belongs.
Testimony from state and local election officials revealed the following facts about Vermont’s absentee ballot security:
- Town Clerks and the Director of Elections testified that there is NO WAY to determine if an absentee ballot was filled out and returned by the voter to whom the vote is being attributed.
- Town Clerks and the Director of Elections testified if someone gets hold of someone else’s ballot, or multiple ballots, fills them out and sends them in fraudulently, those votes will almost certainly be processed and counted.
- Town Clerks and the Director of Elections testified that the only indication a fraudulent vote may have been cast is if an absentee ballot is received, and a voter shows up at the polls and disputes the validity of the absentee ballot. However:
a. In a high turn-out election as many as 35% voters choose not to vote — their votes can be stolen without possibility of detection.
b. There is no way to independently verify that the voter did not actually send in their absentee ballot and is in fact voting twice. And,
c. If the voter is telling the truth, they will be allowed to cast a legitimate ballot, but with 30 days of early processing of absentee ballots, there is no way to remove the fraudulent vote from the final count.
4. All of the states that currently do vote-by-mail have some sort of voter ID provision for absentee ballots whereby election officials can independently verify that the ballot was filled out by the voter to whom the votes are being attributed.
Those voting YES on the Strong Amendment believe it is irresponsible to execute vote-by-mail elections before options for ballot security provisions are even studied by the SOS Office.
Those voting NO on the Strong Amendment believe absentee ballot security measures are not necessary in Vermont, and the “honor system” is enough to ensure election integrity.
Recorded in the House Journal, May 12, 2021: “…Shall the House amend its proposal of amendment as offered by Rep. Strong and others?, was decided in the negative. Yeas, 39. Nays, 99. (Read the Journal, p. 1116 – 1122)
Watch the floor debate on YouTube.
How They Voted
(Click on your Rep’s name to send an email)
| Sally Achey (R – Middletown Springs) – YES Janet Ancel (D – Calais) – NO Peter Anthony (D – Barre) – NO Norman Arrison (D – Weathersfield) – NO Sarita Austin (D – Colchester) – NO John Bartholomew (D – Hartland) – NO Lynn Batchelor (R – Derby) – ABSENT Scott Beck (R – St. Johnsbury) – YES Matthew Birong (D – Vergennes) – NO Alyssa Black (D – Essex) – NO Tiffany Bluemle (D – Burlington) – NO Thomas Bock (D – Chester) – YES Seth Bongartz (D – Manchester) – NO Michelle Bos-Lun (D – Westminster) – NO Erin Brady (D – Williston) – NO Patrick Brennan (R – Colchester) – ABSENT Timothy Briglin (D – Thetford) – NO Jana Brown (D – Richmond) – NO Nelson Brownell (D – Pownal) – NO Jessica Brumsted (D – Shelburne) – NO Thomas Burditt (R – West Rutland) – NO Mollie Burke (P/D – Brattleboro) – NO Elizabeth Burrows (P/D – West Windsor) – NO Scott Campbell (D – St. Johnsbury) – NO Bill Canfield (R – Fair Haven) – YES Seth Chase (D – Colchester) – NO Kevin “Coach” Christie (D – Hartford) – NO Brian Cina (P/D – Burlington) – NO Sara Coffey (D – Guilford) – NO Selene Colburn (P/D – Burlington) – NO Hal Colston (D – Winooski) – NO Peter Conlon (D – Cornwall) – NO Sarah Copeland-Hanzas (D – Bradford) – NO Timothy Corcoran (D – Bennington) – NO Mari Cordes (D/P – Lincoln) – NO Lawrence Cupoli (R – Rutland) – YES Lynn Dickinson (R – St. Albans) – YES Karen Dolan (D – Essex) – NO Kari Dolan (D – Waitsfield) – NO Kate Donnally (D – Hyde Park) – NO Anne Donahue (R – Northfield) – YES David Durfee (D – Shaftsbury) – NO Caleb Elder (D – Starksboro) – NO Alice Emmons (D – Springfield) – NO Peter Fagan (R – Rutland) – YES Martha Feltus (R – Lyndon) – YES John Gannon (D – Wilmington) – NO Leslie Goldman (D – Bellows Falls) – NO Kenneth Goslant (R – Northfield) – YES Maxine Grad (D – Moretown) – NO Rodney Graham (R – Williamstown) – YES James Gregoire (R – Fairfield) – ABSENT Lisa Hango (R – Birkshire) – YES James Harrison (R – Chittenden) – YES Robert Helm (R – Fair Haven) – ABSENT Mark Higley (R – Lowell) – YES Robert Hooper (D – Burlington) – NO Mary Hooper (D – Montpelier) – NO Philip Hooper (D – Randolph) – ABSENT Lori Houghton (D – Essex) – NO Mary Howard (D – Rutland) – NO Kathleen James (D – Manchester) – NO Stephanie Jerome (D – Brandon) – NO Kimberly Jessup (D – Middlesex) – NO John Killacky (D – S. Burlington) – NO Charles Kimbell (D – Woodstock) – NO Warren Kitzmiller (D – Montpelier) – NO Emilie Kornheiser (D – Brattleboro) – NO Jill Krowinski (D – Burlington) – PRESIDING Robert LaClair (R – Barre) – YES Martin LaLonde (D – S. Burlington) – NO Diane Lanpher (D – Vergennes) – NO Paul Lefebvre (R – Newark) – YES Samantha Lefebvre (R – Orange) – YES Felisha Leffler (R – Enosburgh) – NO | William Lippert (D – Hinesburg) – NO Emily Long (D – Newfane) – NO Michael Marcotte (R – Coventry) – YES Marcia Martel (R – Waterford) – YES Paul Martin (R – Franklin) – YES James Masland (D – Thetford) – NO Christopher Mattos (R – Milton) – YES Michael McCarthy (D – St. Albans) – NOCurtis McCormack (D – Burlington) – ABSENT Patricia McCoy (R – Poultney) – YES James McCullough (D – Williston) – NO Francis McFaun (R – Barre) – YES Leland Morgan (R – Milton) – YES Michael Morgan (R – Milton) – YES Kristi Morris (D – Springfield) – NO Mary Morrissey (R – Bennington) – ABSENT Michael Mrowicki (D – Putney) – NO Emma Mulvaney-Stanak (D – Burlington) – NO Barbara Murphy (I – Fairfax) – NO Logan Nicoll (D – Ludlow) – NO Michael Nigro (D – Bennington) – NO Robert Norris (R – Sheldon) – YES Terry Norris (I – Shoreham) – YES William Notte (D – Rutland) – NO Daniel Noyes (D – Wolcott) – NO John O’Brien (D – Tunbridge) – ABSENT Carol Ode (D – Burlington) – NO “Woody” Page (R – Newport) – YES Kelly Pajala (I – Londonderry) – NO John Palasik (R – Milton) – YES Joseph Parsons (R – Newbury) – YES Carolyn Partridge (D – Windham) – NO Avram Patt (D – Worcester) – ABSENT Henry Pearl (D – Danville) – NO Arthur Peterson (R – Clarendon) – YES Ann Pugh (D – S. Burlington) – NO Barbara Rachelson (D/P – Burlington) – NO Marybeth Redmond (D – Essex) – NO Lucy Rogers (D – Waterville) – NO Carl Rosenquist (R – Georgia) – YES Larry Satcowitz (D – Randolph) – NO Brian Savage (R – Swanton) – YES Robin Scheu (D – Middlebury) – NO Heidi Scheuermann (R – Stowe) – ABSENT Patrick Seymour (R – Sutton) – NO Charles “Butch” Shaw (R – Pittsford) – YES Amy Sheldon (D – Middlebury) – NO Laura Sibilia (I – Dover) – NO Katherine Sims (D – Craftsbury) – NO Taylor Small (P/D – Winooski) – NO Brian Smith (R – Derby) – YES Harvey Smith (R – New Haven) – YES Trevor Squirrell (D – Underhill) – NO Gabrielle Stebbins (D – Burlington) – NO Thomas Stevens (D – Waterbury) – NO Vicki Strong (R – Albany) – YES Linda Joy Sullivan (D – Dorset) – NO Heather Suprenant (D – Barnard) – NO Curt Taylor (D – Colchester) – NO Thomas Terenzini (R – Rutland) – ABSENT George Till (D – Jericho) – NO Tristan Toleno (D – Brattleboro) – NO Casey Toof (R – St. Albans) – YES Maida Townsend (D – South) – NO Joseph “Chip” Troiano (D – Stannard) – NO Tanya Vyhovsky (P/D – Essex) – NO Tommy Walz (D – Barre) – NOKathryn Webb (D – Shelburne) – NO Kirk White (P/D – Bethel) – NO Rebecca White (D – Hartford) – NO Dane Whitman (D – Bennington) – NO Terri Lynn Williams (R – Granby) – YES Theresa Wood (D – Waterbury) – NO David Yacovone (D – Morristown) – NO Michael Yantachka (D – Charlotte) – NO |
Categories: Legislation
Send an e-mail to ALL the representatives who will Not stand up for Election Integrity in the State of Vermont, per the Vermont Constitution and under their Oaths of an elected official and of their Offices.
I did. Vote Republican. The current house is a disaster.
The rush is on, no time to waste. At least roll call helps identify who goes on that list – personally I don’t think they will get to roll it out! Lawless….