WILMINGTON-Around 50 people gathered in Wilmington’s Memorial Hall on Sept. 30 to hear town clerks from Wilmington, Dover, and Whitingham describe the Vermont election rules and procedures designed to protect residents’ right to vote, amid fears the Trump administration might seek to exclude some voters from the polls in the upcoming midterm elections on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Dover Free Library Director Allison Maynard moderated the nonpartisan meeting, “Know Your Voting Rights — A Community Information Session,” a discussion with Wilmington Town Clerk Therese Lounsbury, Dover Town Clerk Andy McLean, and Whitingham Town Clerk Rachel Colford.
The event was prompted especially by a White House executive order in March directing the United States Postal Service to draw up new lists of voters that would exclude any noncitizens or anyone else deemed ineligible to vote.
Any attempt to interfere with mail-in voting would be a major concern in Vermont, where an estimated two-thirds of voters historically use the mail to return their completed ballots.
Although on Sept. 14 the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling that denied implementation of the proposed rule, participants at the meeting said they came because they were worried about the national election, and wanted to hear how their towns planned to respond to the administration’s claims that voter rolls are being tainted by noncitizens or those who have taken the names of dead people.
The clerks assured participants that their voting rights would be protected as they always are, that they could register to vote on the same day that they cast their vote, and that their vote would be counted as it always has been as long as they follow the rules.
Those who plan to vote by mail were urged to return their ballots as soon as possible to allow for new mail delays.
‘Business as usual’ in Vermont elections this year
Lounsbury urged mail-in voters to be sure to sign a “voted ballot envelope” containing their completed ballot.
“It is important that you sign this envelope after you have filled out your ballot and placed it inside,” she said. “We’ll chase you down if we don’t have your signature. We cannot count that vote without your signature.”
For those who don’t feel comfortable sending their completed ballots by mail this year, they can leave them in a secure dropbox outside their town clerk’s office, hand them directly to the clerk, or simply vote in person on Election Day, Lounsbury said.
“A town clerk’s office, once polling begins, becomes a polling place,” she said, so state laws about electioneering kick into effect. “So you’re not allowed to come in and campaign, you’re not allowed to bring your firearms, but you can come in and vote.”
Those who choose to vote in person on Election Day might ask why they have to state their name when they walk in to a polling place, Lounsbury said.
Doing so will undermine any claim by a poll watcher who, under Vermont law, can object to a voter only on the basis that they are not the person they say they are, or have already voted elsewhere, and are now preparing to vote at a second location.
People who fail to bring their mailed ballot to a polling station can fill out an affidavit swearing that they have not voted on that ballot, allowing election staff to give them a new ballot to go into the booth, Lounsbury said.
At Wilmington’s Town Meeting this year, she said she would not tolerate any attempt to coerce or intimidate election officials such as herself. At least one Vermont town clerk — though not Lounsbury herself — was threatened by a supporter of President Donald Trump, she said at the time.
The three town clerks echoed Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas, who has said this fall’s elections will be business as usual for Vermont voters despite continuing concern from Trump’s critics that the administration will try to put its thumb on the scale.
Copland Hanzas herself has urged voters not to return their ballots by mail because of concerns about the timing and security of votes by mail, although her office, in written advice, has listed the mail as one of a number of options for voters.
Kevin Sklaw of Wilmington said after the meeting that he felt less worried about the election after hearing the assurances of local election officials.
“I came here because this is a really important election,” he said. “I wanted to come out and hear what the town clerks were saying about what they thought would happen in this election. I actually thought there would be more to be worried about. I feel assured.”
Sklaw said he was motivated to attend particularly because of national concern about the safety of mail-in voting. “Certainly because of the issues of the day — mail-in voting being a major one of them — that inspired me to come to this [presentation].”
This year, voters will elect Vermont’s sole representative to the U.S. House of Representatives, the state’s governor and lieutenant governor, all members of both houses of the state Legislature, and several state officials, including the attorney general and the secretary of state.
McLean said every effort would be made in Dover to exclude from voter rolls the deceased or those who had moved out of town or out of state, but that the system is not perfect, and it might occasionally allow ineligible voters to remain on the rolls.
“Hopefully there’s no dead folks on the voter checklist, but it’s a possibility,” McLean said. “When the secretary of state’s office mails out a ballot, could it end up at the home of a person who’s passed away? It could. Could it end up at the address of somebody who moved out of town and nobody notified the town clerk? Yes. But all the processes we have in place to keep the checklist accurate keep that to a minimum.”
Colford said there are fines and possible prison terms for non-citizens registering to vote in federal and state elections. State law calls for a $200 fine, up to a year of imprisonment, or both for people convicted of fraudulent voting.
To be eligible to vote, people must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years old on Election Day, and be a resident of the town they plan to vote in.
If they register to vote by mail, they may be asked to identify themselves using a driver’s license, a passport, a utility bill, or other officially recognized forms of ID, she said.
After the meeting, participant Marli Gloeckner of Dover said she had been comforted by the assurances of election officials that voting rights would be protected in Vermont, as they always have been, but she remained worried about the idea that the Trump administration might seek to exclude people who would not vote for its the candidates it supports.
“I’m just not sure of the restraints that our president will be able to put on it,” she said. “I hope nothing, but I’m a little concerned about that.”
A version of this story appeared in The Deerfield Valley News, The Commons’ sister newspaper.
This News item by Jon Hurdle originally appeared in The Deerfield Valley News and was republished in The Commons with permission.