From voter checklists to election officials: Here's how Vermont prevents voter fraud

On Jan. 6, 2021, insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol to protest the results of the 2020 presidential election, which they believed had been rigged.

Almost four years later, concerns about voter fraud persist, despite ample evidence showing that it rarely occurs, even on a small scale .

As the Aug. 13 Primary and Nov. 5 General elections draw nearer, Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas is seeking to lay to rest any residual fears. To do so, her office recently released an eight-minute video detailing how Vermont maintains the integrity of its elections . The video can be found on the Vermont Secretary of State’s YouTube channel.

“I partnered with town and city clerks from around the state to create an informational video that outlines the many ways in which our elections are secure,” Copeland Hanzas said in a press release. “By showcasing the folks doing this important work, we hope to help Vermonters understand and appreciate the election process and all the safeguards."

The Free Press summarizes the video’s key points below.

How do we know Vermont elections are secure?

All Vermont towns and cities compile and update voter checklists, which contain the name and address of each registered voter, to help prevent election fraud.

At the state level, Vermont uses the Electronic Registration Information Center – a nonpartisan organization with access to encrypted public records data – to keep track of duplicate registrations, voters who have moved and voters who have died. Locally, towns and cities rely on clerks, elected officials from multiple political parties and the Vermont Election Management System to maintain voter checklists.

How do we know mail-in ballots are secure?

Pulling off even a single count of voter fraud via mail-in ballot would be extremely difficult, let alone fraud on a massive scale – the latter of which is “virtually impossible,” according to Copeland Hanzas.

Firstly, voters must be registered and verified with the state to vote by mail. The Secretary of State’s Office also tracks each absentee ballot.

If you steal someone’s ballot, you risk that person reporting it missing or choosing to vote in-person, actions that would incite an investigation. Even if you get lucky, election workers and clerks may still become suspicious and trace the stolen ballot back to you.

Additionally, two election officials must be present when mail-in ballots are handled.

Voter fraud also comes with consequences. You could go to prison for voter impersonation (one year plus a $200 maximum fine), mail fraud and mail theft (five years) and perjury (15 years maximum plus a $10,000 maximum fine).

Is it possible to tamper with the vote count?

Vermont practices decentralized voting, which means each town or city counts its own ballots and individually reports the results to the state through a secure system. In other words, there is no one centralized space where all ballots originate.

Vermont also requires votes to be tallied by pairs of sworn election officials from different political parties who must agree on the count, a process that is closely and publicly monitored.

Towns with more than 1,000 registered voters must use vote-counting machines called tabulators, which are more efficient and accurate than hand tallying. To prevent hacking, tabulators are not connected to the internet or any other network or system. Each machine also has its own memory card, which would make rigging the votes in even one ward or town difficult.

“The idea that someone would or could ‘Mission Impossible’ their way through this many Vermont towns is highly unlikely,” Copeland Hanzas said. “It would take the entire Ocean’s 11 crew riding in Santa Claus’ sleigh to pull off that level of heist in one night.”

What happens after election night?

Every town and city in Vermont must send their official election results to the Secretary of State’s Office within 48 hours.

“This is a chance for us to confirm, double check, review write-ins, and make sure no mistakes were made during the late-night hours on election night,” said Bennington Town Clerk Cassandra Barbeau. “A lot of focus and energy goes into making sure everything runs smoothly at the polling place, so this is a chance to really concentrate on the data itself.”

The Secretary of State’s Office also performs a public, live-streamed audit of random cities and towns 30 days after each general election to verify the results match the ballots.

Towns and cities are required to store ballots for 22 months after each statewide election in case there are any doubts about the results.

For more information about voting security, contact the Secretary of State’s Office or your town or city clerk.

Megan Stewart is a government accountability reporter for the Burlington Free Press. Contact her at mstewartyounger@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: From voter checklists to election officials: Here's how Vermont prevents voter fraud