Roll Call: How your representative voted on no-security all-mail voting

Editor’s note: Roll Call is published by the Ethan Allen Institute.

S.15, an act relating to correcting defective ballots, passed in the state House of Representatives on May 11, 2021, by a vote of 119-30.

S.15 contains many corrections and additions to Vermont elections law from how a candidate’s nickname can be used on a ballot to new procedures by which election officials can notify a voter that his/her absentee ballot is defective and provide an opportunity to “cure” the ballot. However, the overriding purpose of this bill is to make permanent the Covid-19 emergency measure of mailing “live” ballots to all active voters on the statewide checklist regardless of request.

Analysis: S.15 would turn Vermont into one of six states that relies primarily on vote-by-mail as a system for running elections. The major difference is that those other states all employ some type of voter ID for absentee ballots such as signature verification, a driver’s license number, last for digits of a Social Security number, etc. Vermont would have no such security measures, meaning that election officials will have no way to independently verify if a mailed out ballot was actually filled out and returned by the voter to whom the vote is being attributed. Additionally, in the event a ballot is cast fraudulently by mail and the legitimate voter shows up at the polls to vote, given thirty days of early processing of absentee ballots, there is no way to remove the fraudulent vote from the final count. This is a system ripe for large and small-scale voter fraud.

Although S.15 contains a provision calling for the Secretary of State’s Office to do a study into how and at what cost security measures might be added to the system, the study is not due until 2023, whereas an election would take place in 2022 with no security in place. This is putting the cart before the horse.

Those voting YES believe the potential benefits of an all-mail voting system such as increased voter turnout, fewer barriers for minority voters, and convenience are worth the potential risk of fraud, which they believe does not exist in significant amounts.

Those voting NO believe it is irresponsible to have a voting system in which the overwhelming number of ballots counted (76% in 2020) cannot be independently verified by election officials as valid or fraudulent. Moreover, the supposed benefits of increased turn-out and greater minority participation are not born out by statistical fact. States that have moved to all-mail voting saw flat or declined overall participation in the election following the change, and the two primary examples of vote-by-mail states are in the top five worst for racial disparities in voting according to the 2020 census: Oregon (#2) and Colorado (#5),

As Recorded in the House Journal, May 11, 2021: “…Shall the bill be read a third time?, was decided in the affirmative. Yeas, 119. Nays, 30. (Read the Journal, pages 1032-1059)

Watch the floor debate on YouTube.

How They Voted

Sally Achey (R – Middletown Springs) – NO
Janet Ancel (D – Calais) – YES
Peter Anthony (D – Barre) – YES
Norman Arrison (D – Weathersfield) – YES
Sarita Austin (D – Colchester) – YES
John Bartholomew (D – Hartland) – YES
Lynn Batchelor (R – Derby) – NO
Scott Beck (R – St. Johnsbury) – YES
Matthew Birong (D – Vergennes) – YES
Alyssa Black (D – Essex) – YES
Tiffany Bluemle (D – Burlington) – YES
Thomas Bock (D – Chester) – YES
Seth Bongartz (D – Manchester) – YES
Michelle Bos-Lun (D – Westminster) – YES
Erin Brady (D – Williston) – YES
Patrick Brennan (R – Colchester) – NO
Timothy Briglin (D – Thetford) – YES
Jana Brown (D – Richmond) – YES
Nelson Brownell (D – Pownal) – YES
Jessica Brumsted (D – Shelburne) – YES
Thomas Burditt (R – West Rutland) – NO
Mollie Burke (P/D – Brattleboro) – YES
Elizabeth Burrows (P/D – West Windsor) – YES
Scott Campbell (D – St. Johnsbury) – YES
Bill Canfield (R – Fair Haven) – NO
Seth Chase (D – Colchester) – YES
Kevin “Coach” Christie (D – Hartford) – YES
Brian Cina (P/D – Burlington) – YES
Sara Coffey (D – Guilford) – YES
Selene Colburn (P/D – Burlington) – YES
Hal Colston (D – Winooski) – YES
Peter Conlon (D – Cornwall) – YES
Sarah Copeland-Hanzas (D – Bradford) – YES
Timothy Corcoran (D – Bennington) – YES
Mari Cordes (D/P – Lincoln) – YES
Lawrence Cupoli (R – Rutland) – NO
Lynn Dickinson (R – St. Albans) – YES
Karen Dolan (D – Essex) – YES
Kari Dolan (D – Waitsfield) – YES
Kate Donnally (D – Hyde Park) – YES
Anne Donahue (R – Northfield) – YES
David Durfee (D – Shaftsbury) – YES
Caleb Elder (D – Starksboro) – YES
Alice Emmons (D – Springfield) – YES
Peter Fagan (R – Rutland) – NO
Martha Feltus (R – Lyndon) – NO
John Gannon (D – Wilmington) – YES
Leslie Goldman (D – Bellows Falls) – YES
Kenneth Goslant (R – Northfield) – NO
Maxine Grad (D – Moretown) – YES
Rodney Graham (R – Williamstown) – NO
James Gregoire (R – Fairfield) – YES
Lisa Hango (R – Birkshire) – NO
James Harrison (R – Chittenden) – YES
Robert Helm (R – Fair Haven) – NO
Mark Higley (R – Lowell) – YES
Robert Hooper (D – Burlington) – YES
Mary Hooper (D – Montpelier) – YES
Philip Hooper (D – Randolph) – YES
Lori Houghton (D – Essex) – YES
Mary Howard (D – Rutland) – YES
Kathleen James (D – Manchester) – YES
Stephanie Jerome (D – Brandon) – YES
Kimberly Jessup (D – Middlesex) – YES
John Killacky (D – S. Burlington) – YES
Charles Kimbell (D – Woodstock) – YES
Warren Kitzmiller (D – Montpelier) – YES
Emilie Kornheiser (D – Brattleboro) – YES
Jill Krowinski (D – Burlington) – PRESIDING
Robert LaClair (R – Barre) – YES
Martin LaLonde (D – S. Burlington) – YES
Diane Lanpher (D – Vergennes) – YES
Paul Lefebvre (R – Newark) – YES
Samantha Lefebvre (R – Orange) – YES
Felisha Leffler (R – Enosburgh) – YES
William Lippert (D – Hinesburg) – YES
Emily Long (D – Newfane) – YES
Michael Marcotte (R – Coventry) – YES
Marcia Martel (R – Waterford) – NO
Paul Martin (R – Franklin) – NO
James Masland (D – Thetford) – YES
Christopher Mattos (R – Milton) – YES
Michael McCarthy (D – St. Albans) – YES
Curtis McCormack (D – Burlington) – YES
Patricia McCoy (R – Poultney) – NO
James McCullough (D – Williston) – YES
Francis McFaun (R – Barre) – YES
Leland Morgan (R – Milton) – NO
Michael Morgan (R – Milton) – NO
Kristi Morris (D – Springfield) – YES
Mary Morrissey (R – Bennington) – NO
Michael Mrowicki (D – Putney) – YES
Emma Mulvaney-Stanak (D – Burlington) – YES
Barbara Murphy (I – Fairfax) – YES
Logan Nicoll (D – Ludlow) – YES
Michael Nigro (D – Bennington) –YES
Robert Norris (R – Sheldon) — NO
Terry Norris (I – Shoreham) – NO
William Notte (D – Rutland) – YES
Daniel Noyes (D – Wolcott) – YES
John O’Brien (D – Tunbridge) – YES
Carol Ode (D – Burlington) – YES
“Woody” Page (R – Newport) – NO
Kelly Pajala (I – Londonderry) – YES
John Palasik (R – Milton) – YES
Joseph Parsons (R – Newbury) – NO
Carolyn Partridge (D – Windham) – YES
Avram Patt (D – Worcester) – YES
Henry Pearl (D – Danville) –YES
Arthur Peterson (R – Clarendon) – NO
Ann Pugh (D – S. Burlington) – YES
Barbara Rachelson (D/P – Burlington) – YES
Marybeth Redmond (D – Essex) – YES
Lucy Rogers (D – Waterville) – YES
Carl Rosenquist (R – Georgia) – NO
Larry Satcowitz (D – Randolph) – YES
Brian Savage (R – Swanton) – YES
Robin Scheu (D – Middlebury) – YES
Heidi Scheuermann (R – Stowe) – YES
Patrick Seymour (R – Sutton) – NO
Charles “Butch” Shaw (R – Pittsford) – YES
Amy Sheldon (D – Middlebury) – YES
Laura Sibilia (I – Dover) – YES
Katherine Sims (D – Craftsbury) – YES
Taylor Small (P/D – Winooski) – YES
Brian Smith (R – Derby) – NO
Harvey Smith (R – New Haven) – NO
Trevor Squirrell (D – Underhill) – YES
Gabrielle Stebbins (D – Burlington) – YES
Thomas Stevens (D – Waterbury) – YES
Vicki Strong (R – Albany) – NO
Linda Joy Sullivan (D – Dorset) – YES
Heather Suprenant (D – Barnard) – YES
Curt Taylor (D – Colchester) – YES
Thomas Terenzini (R – Rutland) – NO
George Till (D – Jericho) – YES
Tristan Toleno (D – Brattleboro) – YES
Casey Toof (R – St. Albans) – YES
Maida Townsend (D – South) – YES
Joseph “Chip” Troiano (D – Stannard) – YES
Tanya Vyhovsky (P/D – Essex) – YES
Tommy Walz (D – Barre) – YES
Kathryn Webb (D – Shelburne) – YES
Kirk White (P/D – Bethel) – YES
Rebecca White (D – Hartford) – YES
Dane Whitman (D – Bennington) – YES
Terri Lynn Williams (R – Granby) – NO
Theresa Wood (D – Waterbury) – YES
David Yacovone (D – Morristown) – YES
Michael Yantachka (D – Charlotte) – YES

Image courtesy of USPS

4 thoughts on “Roll Call: How your representative voted on no-security all-mail voting

  1. It is a sad day when those representing us do not listen to the people. I believe 60% or more thought our system of requesting a ballot was just fine. We have proof now of all the crooks we have representing Vermont!

  2. Is this list a surprise to anyone on how they voted, come-on you know that Vermont’s
    Liberal/Socialist Democrats want this boondoggle, as that how they will stay in power !!

    The next thing will be is that you can print your own ballot, again, and again, and again,
    Nah, no one would ever do that, it’s illegal………..sure !!

    Wake up Vermont, they want to keep the power, the power that’s killing our state, vote
    these fools out.

    • Yet look at the Republican idiots who voted for this with their Socialist friends.

      Savage, Dickinson, Gregoire, Leffler, Toof in Franklin County.

      I’m through voting for these folks who talk a good game the put a knife in your back once they’re elected.

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