A Burlington lawyer is attempting to overturn the results of some Town Meeting Day ballot items and approved by city voters on March 2.
Ben Luna is suing the city of Burlington for constructing ballot questions that were “extraordinarily confusing and misleading” and improperly explained to the public. The lawsuit was filed in Chittenden Superior Court Tuesday morning.
Luna is specifically challenging ballot items 2, 4 and 5 — questions about whether the Burlington airport commission should add a member from Winooski, whether ranked choice voting should be adopted for city council elections, and whether specific eviction protections should be adopted. Voters passed all the ballot items.
The full city charter language changes for these ballot items were left off the ballot because they were too long. State law requires that, if a question is too long for a ballot, it can be condensed, but the full language should be “on file for public inspection in the office of the clerk.” Luna alleges this information was not properly made known to voters.
The city is required to “warn” residents of an election and ballot items in a certain number of ways, one of them being in a local newspaper. The city published a warning of the election in Seven Days, which Luna said did not inform voters that the ballot questions were condensed.
“The defendant’s warning misled voters into believing that the six articles disclosed encompassed the entire text of each charter amendment when in fact most of the language of articles 2, 4 and 5 were left off the warning (and the ballot),” Luna’s complaint reads.
Luna also criticized the city’s ballot informational handout, which was sent to every registered voter in the city as universal mail-in voting was adopted to decrease possible Covid-19 contagion at the polls. Luna contends the handout did not meet the statutory requirement that a condensed ballot item be presented in full in a “conspicuous place” when voters are voting.
The handout that was sent to voters did include the full ballot language for the condensed items. But it was on the second page, which Luna argues is inconspicuous. He also criticized other messaging from the city for being inconsistent in the ordering of the ballot items, which he says also could have confused voters.
Olivia LaVecchia, communications coordinator for Mayor Miro Weinberger, said the city attorney has received the lawsuit and is reviewing it.
“The full and accurate language for each charter change and ballot item was mailed to every registered, active voter in the envelope with the ballot,” LaVecchia wrote in an email. “We don’t believe there is any error or violation of election laws.”
Luna is also challenging ballot items 3 and 7 — questions about whether the city should have the power to collect carbon fees from residents and whether officials should prioritize climate justice in future clean energy policies — which he says are “unconstitutionally vague and indefinite.”
“Nowhere in the text of either of these proposed articles did the defendant inform voters they were voting on a charter change that would lead to the eventual imposition of a carbon tax, personal or commercial,” the complaint states. “Articles 3 and 7 were written so hazily, they could mean anything related to thermal energy.”
In an interview with VTDigger, Luna said he filed the lawsuit because he’s heard anecdotally from many people in the city that they were confused by the ballot measures.
He views his legal challenge as a way to uphold a democratic principle — that election information should be easily understandable for all voters.
“While this may frustrate people, the people who vote here have a right to clear, honest information presented to them by the government,” Luna said. “These are very elementary, very basic principles, democratic principles.”
Some of the Town Meeting Day ballot items — specifically the eviction protection question known as the “just cause” effort — drew spirited debate this election cycle. Controversy arose when a group of landlords opposed the just cause ballot question posted signs that urged residents to vote no and “Protect BIPOC tenants from racist neighbors.”
The signs were swiftly rejected for their misleading message and for “the co-opting of racial justice language.” The Vermont Association of Realtors also campaigned against the ballot item and received a $33,277 contribution from the D.C.-based National Association of Realtors just days before Town Meeting Day.
The charter change is subject to approval by the state Legislature, where it’s expected to meet more opposition.
Luna said he is not filing this lawsuit on behalf of any special interest. He also said he is not a landlord.
When reached Tuesday morning, City Council President Max Tracy said he did not know about the lawsuit and needed to consult the city attorney before commenting.
