- File: Jeb Wallace-Brodeur
- Gov. Phil Scott
Updated at 5:02 p.m.
Gov. Phil Scott on Saturday vetoed a bill that would have granted voting rights to legal noncitizens of Burlington, writing that the effort "creates separate and unequal classes" of voters.
Also on Saturday, the governor allowed another Burlington charter change involving ranked-choice voting to become law without his signature. He approved two other voting-related charter changes for the Queen City last week.
In Vermont, both the legislature and governor must sanction all municipal charter changes regardless of how much support they garner locally. Supporters of the so-called
"Dillon's Rule" say it creates uniformity, but critics argue that state lawmakers shouldn't meddle in local affairs.
House Speaker Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington) said the House will "most likely" add the noncitizen voting bill to its list of veto override votes. The legislature plans to reconvene on June 20 to attempt reversing Scott's veto of the state budget, which had included money to transition from the pandemic-era motel program that begins winding down on Thursday, June 1.
Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth (D/P-Chittenden-Central) said he hasn't yet spoken with his Senate colleagues about an override.
"When the governor has finished vetoing, we’re going to be vote-counting and working with the House on what seems doable in both chambers and then figure out a method of approach," Baruth said. "The short answer is, I haven’t yet gotten a read on what people think."
The bill,
H.509, would have allowed the city's estimated 2,132 legal noncitizens who are age 18 or older to vote in municipal elections and run for local office.
More than two-thirds of Burlington voters approved the measure on Town Meeting Day in March.
In his veto letter, Scott said he doesn't object to the policy itself but to its piecemeal adoption across the state. Both Montpelier and Winooski allow noncitizen voting — but only because
lawmakers overrode Scott's veto of those bills in 2021. The legislation also survived a
legal challenge by the state and national Republican parties in the Vermont Supreme Court.
Scott said he still believes that voting systems should be universal, not decided town by town.
"I again urge the Legislature to establish clarity and consistency on this matter with a template or uniform standards," his veto letter says. "Returning this bill provides the opportunity to do this important work."
Baruth, who supported the charter change, slammed Scott's veto as "an area where the national Republican approach overlaps with the governor's.
"There’s an attempt to limit the franchise where these kind of residents are concerned, and I don’t think it’s the healthiest thing for our democracy," he said.
Scott was more lenient with
H.508, which adopts ranked-choice voting for mayoral, school board and ward election official races in Burlington. Scott allowed the bill to become law despite personally opposing the system.
Ranked-choice voting lets voters rank candidates in order of their preference. If no contestant gets a majority of votes, the one with the fewest votes is eliminated. The second-choice votes of everyone who picked that candidate are then tallied. The process continues until somebody wins more than 50 percent.
"I believe one person should get one vote, and candidates who get the most votes should win elections," Scott wrote.
Burlington abandoned ranked-choice after the 2009 mayoral election crowned Progressive Bob Kiss the winner, even though he notched fewer first-place votes than his Republican and Democratic challengers. Voters resurrected the method
in 2021 for city council elections.
This latest charter change, which voters approved 64.4 percent to 35.5 percent in March, means all city elections will be decided using ranked-choice.
Scott also OK'd two other Burlington charter changes last week.
H.506 creates new voting maps for the city as part of a once-in-a-decade redistricting process. And
H.507 allows the city council to designate two polling places in one building so long as the locations are "separate and distinct."