With the election just days away, Vermont’s governor and secretary of state are outlining the state’s preparations including the voting process and security preparations.
Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas said she wanted to highlight what to expect as Election Day approaches and what resources are available for voters. She reported that as of Tuesday more than 150,000 ballots had been returned to clerk’s offices across Vermont.
“Those ballots will be securely stored in the clerk’s office, locked in the vault until the tabulation is complete. And voters we want you to have a voting plan starting now,” advised Copeland Hanzas. “It is probably too late to mail your ballot back. So this is the time when you want to go to your My Voter page to find out your clerk’s office location, the hours that they’re open and if they have a drop box the location of that drop box. We highly recommend that voters at this point hand their ballot in person to their town or city clerk.”
Copeland Hanzas, a Democrat, wants people to be aware of potential disruptions. She also noted it’s a priority to keep election workers safe, especially after hearing from clerks across the state about negative interactions with people who have become agitated by false claims about the voting process from other areas of the country.
“We’re lucky in Vermont to have a little less vitriol than they do in some parts of this country. But we are not immune to it and we still hear stories from town and city clerks about angry interactions that they’ve had with voters,” related Copeland Hanzas. “And I want to say very clearly it is never acceptable to try to bully or intimidate those hard-working Vermonters.”
There have been no specific physical or cyber threats in Vermont targeting the election system.
Governor Phil Scott, a Republican, says his office will collaborate with the Secretary of State to assure the security of Vermont’s elections.
“The systems we have in place are secure and we’ll make sure the voting process is protected,” Scott promised. “So I encourage all Vermonters to vote because it’s essential to our democracy.”
Scott also said his administration is preparing for any possible form of disruption.
“We’ve seen all kinds of things that have been threatened across the country. Thankfully not here in Vermont. But we have to be prepared for anything so we’ve been working with our team, Public Safety, Buildings and General Services and so forth and so on,” Scott said. “You never know what to expect in Vermont. You should just expect the unexpected. So we’re just preparing for that. If there was a power breakdown, let’s say, we’d be prepared for that. So we’re prepared for almost anything, we believe.”
In Vermont, town clerks must receive mail-in ballots by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
In addition to the president, voters in Vermont are choosing one U.S. Senator, its at-large U.S. Representative, all state Constitutional officers and all state House and Senate seats.
