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Gov. Phil Scott says he is not ready to approve an emergency Covid-19 procedure to send mail-in ballots to all registered voters for the general election in November.
The Republican governor’s position clashes with the Secretary of State Jim Condos, a Democrat, who has advocated for moving ahead with a universal mail-in ballot system as soon as possible to keep crowds from forming at polling locations.
During Scott’s Monday press briefing, the governor said he had met with Condos to share his concerns with the plan, in part because of the tight turnaround between the August primary and the general election.
“We talked about my concerns, in terms of printing ballots for November and I would only offer that you can’t print ballots until you have a primary, and they’re going to have to wait at least a couple weeks after the primary before you print anything, because of the independents and so forth as well,” Scott said.
The governor added that he respects the expertise Condos and his team bring to elections, but also had other issues with the proposal. Scott chose not to elaborate on what those concerns were until he had received a response from the Secretary of State’s Office addressing them.
“I didn’t ask to be put in this position between him and elections,” he said, referring to legislation he signed in March that gives the Secretary of State’s Office the power to change election procedures during the pandemic — as long as the new measures receive approval from the governor.
“At this point in time, I’m there and I have concerns,” Scott said. “I am going to give them the latitude to see if those can be addressed and if they can, great and we’ll move forward.”
The governor said the disagreement between him and Condos was not political but one of practicality, adding that he wouldn’t classify the back and forth between his office and Condos as a “fight.”
August’s primary will move ahead as usual due to time constraints. However, Condos said he was less concerned about those polls because turnout is generally lower and it is a party nominating process.
Scott’s hesitance to endorse expanding the state’s mail-in voting system comes as Republicans across the country resist similar changes in their states.
National Republican leaders have been fighting state-level measures that could expand mail-in voting in Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona and elsewhere, the New York Times reported last month. Republicans in New Mexico have also opposed an effort to go to a mail-in-only primary.
President Donald Trump has criticized mail-in voting, arguing it makes it easier for people to stuff the ballot boxes and GOP strategists have said they are concerned expanding absentee and early voting could give Democrats an edge in November.
In an interview, Condos said his staff has been in talks with the governor’s team for the last 3-4 weeks but that the two met Saturday to discuss the points of contention.
Condos said Scott has a desire to keep the election format unchanged, and is particularly concerned that voting by mail could lead to disenfranchisement.
“The return to normalcy seemed to be the big point he was trying to make,” Condos said.
“What the governor has said is he wants all the logistics in place and then wait to make the final decision,” Condos said. “But we can’t do that.”
Condos said it is already too late to create a mail-in system for the August primaries, but added that the governor’s approval for the general election is of paramount importance.
Last month, while the measure was being discussed in the Legislature, Xusana Davis, Vermont’s executive director of racial equity and the Scott administration’s point person on the proposal, said she supported expanding the state’s mail-in ballot system.
Davis said Covid-19 will impact voters’ ability to get to the polls, “which is already extremely strained for communities of color.”
“On our best days as a nation, voting rights in different states are already under assault, so when you add a pandemic into it, it really does create an added layer of chaos,” Davis said.
At the time, Davis recommended the state come up with a backup plan for distributing and collecting ballots from voters in the event that U.S. Postal Service operations are “delayed or halted” because of the pandemic.
Many states have already decided to strengthen mail-in voting systems for the fall’s election — including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Utah, New Jersey, Hawaii, Colorado, Oregon and Washington.
“This has happened in Republican states as well as Democrat states,” Condos said. “This is not an issue of red or blue, it is an issue of trying to protect our voters’ health and safety.”
Late Monday afternoon, Condos sent a memo to the governor outlining his position on Scott’s concerns.
“We actually said we believe, strongly, that vote by mail has the least impact on disenfranchisement and probably enfrancises more people than any other method,” Condos said.
Condos said the plan does not affect election protocol in any meaningful way, as polling locations will all still be open and people will still be able to contact their town clerk or city manager to receive an absentee or early voting ballot.
“We are really hoping the governor reads our memo in detail and determines it does make sense and we have covered our bases,” Condos said, adding that if Scott does not approve the plan soon it will be too late to set up the infrastructure needed to carry it out.
On Tuesday, Rebbecca Kelley, Scott’s spokesperson, declined to say whether the memo had persuaded the governor.
“He’s going to continue to convey his feedback directly to Secretary Condos,” Kelley said.
Condos said the goal is to mail a ballot to every active voter by no later than Oct. 1 and in so doing keep the number of people who show up to the polls as low as possible while preserving the rights of Vermtonters and keeping people healthy and safe.
The secretary of state added that he hopes Scott heeds his advice.
“He’s listened to his public health experts and we are the experts on elections, process and infrastructure that is necessary,” Condos said. “We know how to run elections and we know what is necessary.”
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