Hundreds of Vermonters attended “Count Every Vote” rallies in 10 cities and towns Wednesday to demand a full calculation of this week’s national balloting.
“Perhaps it is not surprising but it is still shocking that we’re talking about a situation where a president is effectively trying to steal the election,” Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, said after Donald Trump called for an end to tallying in the close, undecided White House contest because he considered himself the victor.
“This is not a partisan issue,” Burns said. “There are rules that we have to go by. And one of those most important is that every ballot must be counted in order for the election to be complete. We know that has not yet happened, and we must insist that process go forward.”
Burns spoke at an online press conference in which representatives of Vermont’s congressional delegation and dozens of state leaders endorsed a national “Protect the Results” effort to respect the will of the people.
“If we were on the playground and a child tried to stop a game at the end of the third quarter or the top of the eighth inning because that team was winning, you’d call that child a cheater,” Burns said. “The president is trying to cheat his way to another term right now, and we cannot, we must not, we will not stand for it.”
Nearly two dozen Vermont organizations, led by VPIRG and the grassroots organizing group Rights & Democracy, organized rallies in Bennington, Brattleboro, Bristol, Burlington, Lyndonville, Manchester, Middlebury, Montpelier, Rutland and the Upper Valley.
In the state’s largest city of Burlington, dozens marched along Church Street waving “Count Every Vote” signs while chanting “we will not accept a coup.”
“It’s up to us, the people who are demanding a different world, to fight,” local activist Paul Fleckenstein said, “or we’re going to be back here under worse circumstances in four years.”
“This moment is a symptom of a much larger problem,” added newly elected state representative Tanya Vyhovsky of Essex. “It’s a symptom of a country that is failing its people.”
In the capital city of Montpelier, more than 100 people gathered outside the Statehouse for a candlelight vigil.
“There are people at events like this all around the country — swing states, red states, blue states — and we all have our part to play,” said Ben Edgerly Walsh, an event organizer. “If Vermonters were not to stand up in a moment like this, that’s just something that we couldn’t allow to happen.”
Leila Faulstich said she attended the Montpelier vigil because the lack of full results had left her in limbo.
“It’s a bit of just waiting,” she said, “but I feel like I don’t know what I’m waiting for, especially in this election.”
In the college town of Middlebury, about 200 residents and students gathered for a rally on the town green.
“Vermont has voted,” longtime local activist Fran Putnam said, “and it was successful. So we would like to be a model for the rest of the country, to say, ‘We’ve counted our votes — now we’re standing behind you as you count yours.’”
And in the southern hub of Brattleboro, about 100 people gathered for a vigil on the town common some 24 hours after the local Selectboard unanimously approved a resolution on the topic.
“The ballot counting process may take longer than usual due to Covid-19 and other factors,” the Selectboard statement read in part, “so everyone must be patient to allow elections administrators to fulfill their duty in carefully, completely and accurately tabulating the election results.”
Michael Dougherty, James Finn and Katya Schwenk contributed to this report.
