Op-ed: Free, fair, accessible and secure elections

By Sarah Copeland Hanzas

The General Election is less than two weeks away. As the rhetoric and “noise” intensifies, it’s worth a reminder that Vermont’s elections are not only among the most accessible in the country, they are also incredibly secure.  Election policy is always a balance of accessibility and security. I feel very strongly that Vermont has the best of both of these.

Every state in the U.S. has a different set of procedures for conducting elections. From the foundation of our country, state legislatures have decided how to conduct elections, within the guidelines of each state’s constitution. This can sometimes confuse Vermonters who watch news coverage from other states or recently moved here from elsewhere.

The key to our well-run elections is the People and the Processes.

First the people: Voters are the most important people on Election Day. It sounds cliché, but without the voters, we could not have an election.  Almost equally important are our 247 duly sworn town and city clerks who are committed to making sure Vermont elections are free, fair, accessible, and secure. They maintain and update their town’s voter checklist, they are responsible for the security of ballots and ballot counting machines, they recruit and train poll workers to help process ballots and count votes, and they transmit the tallied results to our office at the end of the night.

In terms of the processes: The Vermont Legislature directs our election procedures. State laws carefully balance security and transparency with the right to vote. There is intentional redundancy built into the procedures to ensure fairness and accuracy. This is why most communities have an entrance and exit checklist, why you will be asked to sign an affidavit if you vote in person and forgot to bring your mailed ballot, and why two Board of Civil Authority members of opposing parties work together when handling ballots.

Vermont leads the nation in how we balance access with solid security procedures.  Our office has long advocated for eliminating unnecessary barriers to voting because we have seen over the decades that the number of eligible voters who have been denied the right to cast a ballot vastly exceeds attempts of voter fraud.

We allow same-day voter registration, eliminating the arbitrary deadline of registering days or weeks ahead of the election. This change is an important way of welcoming new community members and is an important fail-safe, in case someone is mistakenly removed from the voter rolls.

We have automatic voter registration, so as a new Vermonter, you don’t need to carve time out of your unpacking to register to vote. You can choose to do it automatically when you get your Vermont driver’s license, and your clerk will be notified of your registration.

Policymakers heard from Vermonters about the popularity of universal vote by mail in 2020, so state law now ensures the automatic mailing of ballots to active registered voters every November election.

We are continuing to improve access for voters.  I hear from voters the frustration about a lack of information about the candidates running for office. That’s why we created a universal online voter guide that is based on your ballot and available on your My Voter Page by clicking here. This tool empowers every Vermonter to find the candidates whose values match their own.

Vermonters, our office has mailed you a ballot, your clerk stands ready to receive your ballot, our Boards of Civil Authority are ready to tally the votes, and candidates’ contact information and policy positions are in your voter guide.

If you have not registered to vote, it is easy to do, please visit your town clerk or my office’s Online Voter Registration System.

Democracy relies on all of us. Go vote, Vermont!

Sarah Copeland Hanzas is Vermont’s 39^th Secretary of State. She was an 18-year member of the Vermont House before being elected as Secretary of State in 2022.