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The standoff continues between Gov. Phil Scott and Secretary of State Jim Condos over providing a mailed ballot to every registered voter in Vermont for the November election. In a recent exchange of letters, the two men modified their positions but still disagree on the decision-making process.
Condos has said he must begin the process immediately. Scott is fine with proceeding, but has insisted on making the final decision only after the August primary. Under Act 92, a bill passed by the Legislature this year and signed into law by the governor, both officials must agree on whether to enact voting by mail this year. Scott has said he wouldn’t object if the Legislature removed him from the process, but unless that happened, he would hold to his position.
Early last week, Condos sent a compromise proposal to Scott. He suggested proceeding on the assumption that vote by mail will happen in November, but the two would have the option of pulling the plug after the August primary. The default would be voting by mail, rather than continuing with the format of previous elections.
Scott responded in a Thursday letter agreeing to Condos’ proposal with one amendment: That the post-primary decision be made, not by Scott and Condos, but by a five-member committee. Its members, according to the letter, would include “the Commissioner of Health; a town clerk, appointed by the Vermont Municipal Clerks’ and Treasurers’ Association; a designee of the Vermont Mayors Coalition; a designee of the Governor; and a designee of the Secretary of State.”
The panel would be tasked with making the decision by Tuesday, Aug. 19.
In his letter, Scott said he was concerned in part by the appearance of a conflict of interest, apparently referring to the potential presence of himself or Condos or both on the ballot. Under Scott’s proposal, no member of the five-member committee can be a candidate for any elected office in November.
The committee’s purpose would be limited to answering a single question: “Is mailing ballots for the 2020 November General Election necessary for Vermonters to protect their health, safety, and welfare while also continuing to exercise their right to participate in elections in order to maintain our democratic institutions?”
The threshold of “necessary” could place a significant burden of proof on the committee.
In a Monday interview, Condos said he was “very disappointed” by Scott’s letter. “The governor has said he’s not philosophically opposed to vote by mail. He says he’s relying on the experts. He acknowledges that my team are the experts on Vermont elections. But he doesn’t want to take our advice,” Condos said.
Condos’ office is preparing a formal response to Scott’s letter. In the meantime, Condos said he would immediately start the process of conducting the November election by mail because he can’t wait any longer. “We’ll have to make changes to our database system in order to marry it up with the mailing contractor,” he explained. “We have to correctly format the addresses. When we make a mailing, the mailer has to make sure the addresses are correct, every voter gets the correct ballot, and gets a return envelope addressed to the correct clerk.” He also cited the need for educating town clerks, election workers and voters on the new system.
Condos estimates the plan’s cost at $3 million, which has already been received from the federal government. A million or more, he said, would have to be spent before the August primary. Those expenditures would be audited by the feds. “If we spend a million dollars on this plan and then don’t do it, the state could be subject to a clawback,” Condos said.
Correction: The original version of this story mischaracterized Gov. Phil Scott’s position on voting by mail in November. In a letter Thursday, he acceded to Secretary of State Jim Condos’ proposal that the general election be conducted by mail unless agreed otherwise.
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