[T]he Vermont Republican Party is questioning the neutrality of an employee of the Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s Office.
David Sunderland, chair of the Vermont GOP, took the Secretary of State Jim Condos to task after discovering online posts by an election official that expressed support for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Matt Dunne.
Condos disputed the claim Friday. He said the employee’s activities are permitted.
“The genie is out of the bottle, he’s clearly a partisan and is looking at the election in a partisan way,” said David Sunderland, chairman of the Vermont GOP. “This requires action by the Secretary of the State’s Office.”
The GOP sent a letter complaining about comments made by JP Isabelle on political blogs to the secretary’s office and demanded that immediate action be taken. Condos responded in a letter Friday afternoon refuting Sunderland’s claims.
“We respectfully request that immediate action be taken to ensure Mr. Isabelle has no administrative obligations, input or influence in elections in which the political parties, Unions or candidates for governor may have an interest,” Sunderland wrote in his letter. “What form that remedy takes is, of course, up to you.”
Condos said he addressed the issue last week after discovering Isabelle’s comments while scouring political blogs. He said Isabelle had broken no rules and was not disciplined.
“This stuff is allowed,” Condos said. “But I’ve asked my staff to respect their position as election administrators.”
According to the state’s policy manual for public employees, state workers are allowed to “freely express his or her opinions on all political subjects and candidates.”
The state does have conflict of interest rules, but they relate to state employees engaging directly with candidates, according to the manual.
Isabelle’s comments flagged by the GOP mostly concern favorable language regarding Matt Dunne, a Google executive who is running for governor as a Democrat.
“I left feeling energized,” Isabelle commented on a post about a Dunne event on the Vermont Political Observer blog.
“Raising the issues of opportunities will result in a hopeful energized message,” Isabelle continued in his post.
The elections staffer has also tweeted comments somewhat critical of Lt. Gov. Phil Scott and retweeted a Times Argus story about Dunne’s gubernatorial announcement.
Sunderland sent VTDigger and other news outlets the Isabelle quotes he said were troubling.
“We don’t deny that everybody in the Secretary of State’s Office has their own personal convictions or beliefs, and we don’t deny their right and ability to express that,” Sunderland said. “But those charged with administering elections do have an obligation from publicly commenting, indicating what their own personal preferences are.”
Isabelle didn’t return phone calls Friday, and his office mailbox said he was on vacation this week.
Condos said his office is nonpartisan, and that while he ran as a Democrat he does not conduct his work with a political bent.
“Everything we do is double-checked, there is no way that he could tamper with any of the results,” Condos said, describing Isabelle’s election role as an administrator, not a rule maker. “Frankly, I find that to be an insult not only to me, but to JP. He is as honest as they come.”
Text of GOP letter to Condos
Dear Secretary Condos:
I write today to bring a concerning display of political bias to your attention.
As you’ve noted, there is nothing more important than the integrity of our elections process. That’s why we know you will want to take swift and decisive action to remedy this problem and the perceptions of inappropriate, potentially unethical, behavior it creates.
It has been brought to my attention that in comments on a hyper-partisan, far left blog the state’s Director of Municipal Elections, Campaign Finance, Candidates/Parties, and Party Organization, J.P. Isabelle, makes comments that clearly establish a concerning political bias. His clear bias is also reflected throughout many of his postings on Twitter.
Notwithstanding whether it’s appropriate for a member of your elections staff to be commenting on overtly partisan blogs, as an administrator of elections and election law, Vermonters have a right to expect that Mr. Isabelle will be neutral and nonpartisan in all public conduct and engagement.
Unfortunately, Mr. Isabelle’s credentials as a neutral and nonpartisan administrator have been irreversibly undermined by his statements. Many Vermonters have already lost faith and trust in state government. This unprofessional choice provides reason to be concerned about the neutrality of the Elections Division as well.
We respectfully request that immediate action be taken to ensure Mr. Isabelle has no administrative obligations, input or influence in elections in which the political parties, Unions or candidates for governor may have an interest. What form that remedy takes is, of course, up to you. We also urge you to review with your staff the importance of absolute, unquestionable neutrality in the administration of all elections and election law.
In keeping with our shared commitment to transparency, I will be forwarding a copy of this letter to the Vermont media community.
Thank you for your attention to this very serious matter.
Sincerely,
David Sunderland, Chairman
Vermont Republican Party
