Federal election observers are scheduled to visit Burlington on Election Day as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s plan to closely monitor the mid-term elections.
The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, which sued Vermont Secretary of State Sara Copeland Hanzas last year for refusing to turn over sensitive voter data, informed her that it plans to send two observers to the Queen City.
The move is part of the DOJ’s goal to have election monitors in all 50 states this year. The 1,000 observers it plans to deploy nationwide would be a dramatic increase from past elections.
The visit appears to be the first time such monitors have come to Vermont, according to Bryan Mills, chief of staff for Copeland Hanzas.
The DOJ claims it is ramping up its oversight this year to ensure the election is conducted fairly. But voting rights groups are increasingly concerned about the potential for election meddling by the federal government.
Vermont officials first got wind on October 22, when a senior trial attorney in the DOJ’s civil rights division emailed a vague outline of its plans.
“Our monitors only observe and take notes,” James Thomas Tucker wrote. “They do not intrude or interfere in any way in the voting process … If our monitors observe an election issue, they will notify their team lead for the jurisdiction.”
Asked about the plan on Monday during a joint press conference with Gov. Phil Scott, Copeland Hanzas stressed that it was “not unusual” for the DOJ to use election monitors who ensure “rightful voters are not denied access to the ballot.”
“Given the shift in focus of this administration, we don’t know what to expect with respect to election monitors this time around,” Copeland Hanzas said.
Copeland Hanzas and her election staff got some clarity on Wednesday during a virtual meeting with DOJ officials.
They learned that there will be a pair of monitors in plainclothes who intend to visit all eight polling places, Mills explained. The monitors said they would identify themselves to the official in charge of each polling place, stay in designated areas and not interfere with the voting process.
“From the letter and from our calls with them, we have no reason to believe that they are there to cause any interference,” Mills said. “They are there to observe and have insisted that they are going to keep a low profile and do their work.”
The letter from the DOJ indicated that it would share with election officials “any specific issues we may be focused on in that jurisdiction.” But during the call, the DOJ officials only raised the issue of voting accessibility, Mills said.
That’s a fairly narrow area of election law, focused on ensuring all voters, regardless of their physical or verbal skills, can vote. It includes accessibility for people in wheelchairs and accommodations for the visually impaired. There are also rules to ensure people can vote regardless of what language they speak.
Vermont election law allows so-called “poll watchers” to be present in polling places. This includes members of the media, the general public and political and advocacy groups. Representatives of candidates or political groups can have up to two representatives at each polling place. They can use the opportunity to challenge people’s right to vote.
State law says that such representatives are not allowed “to interfere with the orderly conduct of the election.” It grants the “presiding officer” of each polling place the “authority to impose reasonable rules for the preservation of order.” This can include prohibiting electronic devices such as cameras in the polling place.
If issues come up with the federal monitors, or any other type of federal interference, the state will intervene, Gov. Scott said on Monday.
“From our standpoint, we will do everything in our power to protect the process and we will counter anything that comes up,” he said.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
