The primary is just nine days away, and if voters want their ballots counted, they should mail them this Monday, Aug. 3, Vermont’s secretary of state says.
Secretary Jim Condos says voters should not wait until later in the week to mail in ballots. The last day town clerks can accept ballots by mail is 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10.
If mail-in ballots are sent on Friday, Aug. 7, there is no guarantee they will arrive by Monday, Condos said.
“It’s not that I don’t trust the post office, they’re supposed to be giving ballots high priority,” he said, but all mail is now routed to processing centers in either Essex or White River Junction and can take two to more days for delivery.
There is also likely to be a high volume of ballots. As of 3 p.m. Friday, the secretary of state said 141,485 ballots had been requested.
Nearly 57,000 have been returned. The number of Vermont absentee ballots combined for both 2016 and 2018 was 39,000.
The requests for absentee mail-in ballots this year has shattered previous records, and overall turnout this year could exceed a record 120,000 ballots cast in 2016. In August 2018, the total was 107,018 votes.
Mail-in ballots delivered on Election Day won’t be delivered to the polls, Condos said. Most town clerks have secure drop boxes for residents who wish to drop off ballots through Monday, Aug. 10.
In-person voting will also take place on Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Condos has encouraged Vermonters to mail in ballots this year to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 to poll workers, most of whom are elderly, and between voters. The Secretary of State’s Office has stepped up ballot request access — sending out postcards to all registered voters.
“We’ve stood this up quickly,” Condos said. “Are there going to be mistakes, of course there are.”
In the general election, requests for ballots will not be necessary. The secretary of state will automatically mail ballots to registered voters in order to expedite the vote-by-mail process.
About 500,000 people in Vermont, out of a population of 626,000, are expected to register for the Nov. 3 election. In the last presidential election cycle, 469,833 Vermonters were registered.
President Donald Trump has criticized mail-in voting, saying it will lead to “the greatest rigged election in history,” making it easier for people to stuff the ballot boxes. GOP strategists have said they are concerned that an expansion of absentee and early voting could give Democrats an edge in November.
Vermont House Republicans pushed back on Condos’ expanded vote-by-mail program, but the Covid-19 temporary emergency measure was passed easily by Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.
Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, said he was reluctant to sign off on Condos’ plan because he would prefer to hold “normal” elections.
