Countdown is on to Vermont’s primary election Aug. 11

August 6, 2020  |  By Lisa Scagliotti

Monday, Aug. 10, is the last day town clerks may accept ballots by mail and ballots must be turned in by 7 p.m. on election day in order to be counted. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti.

Vermont’s statewide primary is just days away and voters are running out of time to vote early to avoid having to show up in person to cast their ballot on Aug. 11. 

With the COVID-19 pandemic this year, elections officials from Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos down to town clerks and members of boards of civil authority have been encouraging voters to request ballots early by mail. Absentee voting will help reduce the number of people needing to vote in person on election day and so far, it looks as if in-person turnout will be low. 

Condos’s office reports a record number of early ballot requests across the state. 

As of Tuesday afternoon, elections officials around Vermont had received 147,668 early ballot requests, according to the Secretary of State’s office. Of those, 72,847 had already been returned, said Chief of Staff Eric Covey. 

Early ballot requests point to a big jump in primary participation this year as well. Absentee ballots mailed out this year have already exceeded the total primary turnout for the 2018 primary -- 107,637 -- and for the turnout in the 2016 primary which was 120,132, according to state elections records. 

In both of the last two statewide primaries, absentee voting accounted for less than 20 percent of the total votes cast: 17,086 votes in 2018 and 22,363 ballots in 2016, Covey said.   

Locally, Waterbury Town Clerk Carla Larwrence said Tuesday that she had mailed out 1,519 ballots. That’s also more than the total number of votes cast in the past two statewide August primaries: turnout in 2018 was 988 and in 2016 it was 1,452, Lawrence said. 

Duxbury Town Clerk Maureen Harvey said Thursday that she has mailed out 347 absentee ballots which represents about 29 percent of the town’s registered voters. Total turnout in the past two August primaries was 267 voters in 2018 and 370 in 2016, Harvey said.

As Waterbury and Duxbury town clerks' offices open by appointment only, clerks ask voters to use the drop boxes outside the town offices in both locations to drop off ballots before Aug. 11. Vermont Secretary of State infographic.

Get your ballot in: drop off, drop in, drive up

With election day less than a week away, anyone who requested a ballot by mail would best drop off their voted ballot in person now to be sure it is counted. Monday, Aug. 10, is the last day town clerks may accept ballots by mail and ballots must be turned in by 7 p.m. on election day in order to be counted. 

Both Waterbury and Duxbury town offices are both open by appointment only. Town clerks ask voters to use the secure drop boxes outside their entrances for dropping off  envelopes containing their voted and unvoted ballots. Regardless of when people vote, they receive three ballots -- one each for the Democratic, Progressive and Republican party candidates -- and must return all three with just one marked and the other two remaining blank. Voters may only choose candidates on one ballot. 

Voters also may drop off completed ballots on Aug. 11 at their polling place: in Waterbury at the Municipal Complex and in Duxbury at Crossett Brook Middle School both between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. 

For those who plan to vote in person, Waterbury voters will be required to wear masks and follow instructions from election volunteers to keep distance from others and limit the number of people in the polling spot at any given time. 

In Duxbury, Town Clerk Maureen Harvey said the drive-up system used for the school budget revote in June worked so well that they will use the same system for the primary. Voting will be done outdoors at Crossett Brook Middle School with vehicles driving up for individuals to check in and receive their ballots. Spots will be marked there vehicles can pull to the curb for people to mark their choices and then pull up to turn in ballots and check out. 

“We can’t require that they wear a mask but we are limiting our exposure with them staying in their cars,” Harvey said. Election workers during the June school vote wore masks as they interacted with voters. 

Who’s on the ballots

The primary election will decide each party’s candidates for Vermont’s single U.S. House seat and the state’s six statewide offices -- governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor. It also will decide candidates for the 180 members of the state Legislature as well as candidates for high bailiffs in each county. 

Races for governor and lieutenant governor have garnered the most interest this year. Republican Gov. Phil Scott seeking his third two-year term has four GOP challengers in the primary: Douglas Cavett of Milton, John Klar of Brookfield, Bernard Peters of Irasburg and Emily Peyton of Putney whose name is also on the ballot as a candidate for attorney general. 

On the Democratic side, four candidates are vying for their party’s nomination including Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman. Gov. Scott’s former education secretary Rebecca Holcombe of Norwich is his highest-profile challenger along with Bennington lawyer Patrick Winburn who has been running TV ads for several months. Rounding out that race is Ralph “Carcajou” Corbo of Wallingford who also is on the ballot as the lone Democratic challenger to U.S. Rep. Peter Welch.

Four Republicans are on the primary ballot to challenge Welch in November: Miriam Berry of Essex, Jimmy Rodriguez of Montpelier, Justin Tuthill of Pomfret, and Anya Tynio of Charleston. 

With Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, a Progressive/Democrat running for governor this year, his current office has attracted a crowded field in both Democratic and Republican primary contests. Five Republican and four Democratic candidates are vying for their party nominations.

On the Democratic side, two state senators are on the ballot, Sens. Tim Ashe, of Burlington, and  Debbie Ingram of Williston; former state Rep. Brenda Siegel of Newfane is in that race along with Assistant Attorney General Molly Gray of Burlington, a newcomer to elected office. 

Republicans running for the lieutenant governor nomination are former gubernatorial candidate Scott Milne of Pomfret, Dana Colson Jr. of Sharon, Meg Hansen of Manchester, Jim Hogue of Calais, and Dwayne Tucker of Barre. 

All other statewide office holders are Democrats -- Attorney General T.J. Donovan, Auditor Doug Hoffer, Secretary of State Jim Condos, Treasurer Beth Pearce. All but Hoffer are unopposed in their primary; Hoffer has one challenger, Linda Joy Sullivan of Dorset.

The GOP has few contenders for the other statewide offices. Perennial candidate H. Brook Paige of Washington is running for the party’s nomination for both secretary of state and attorney general; Carolyn Whitney Branagan is unopposed in seeking the Republican nomination for treasurer.

The Progressive Party primary ballot has just three names on it: frequent candidate Cris Ericson of Chester is running for every statewide office; Chris Brimmer of Ryegate is also listed for U.S. House; Boots Wardinski is a candidate for governor. 

Few primary races for legislators 

In legislative races, state House members representing Waterbury and Duxbury districts are not facing any primary challengers. Waterbury Reps. Tom Stevens and Theresa Wood are the two Democrats on the ballot for the two Chittenden-Washington seats in the House. Brock Coderre of Waterbury Center is the lone Republican candidate on the ballot seeking one of those positions in November. The district covers Waterbury, Bolton, Huntington and Buel’s Gore. 

Duxbury is represented in the House by Rep. Kari Dolan, D-Waitsfield, and Maxine Grad, D-Moretown. They have no major party opponents. Their district also includes Fayston and Warren. 

Washington County’s three incumbent state Senators are all seeking re-election: Democrats Ann Cummings and Andrew Perchlik of Montpelier and Anthony Pollina of Middlesex. They have one challenger Theo Kennedy of Middlesex seeking a spot on the November ballot in the Democratic column. 

The Republican ballot has four contenders for Washington County state senate, all from Barre: Ken Alger, Dawnmarie Tomasi, Dwayne Tucker and Brent Young.   

The Progressive Party has no candidates for legislative races in the local districts. 

Vermont primary voter guides 

There are several comprehensive statewide election guides with information on candidates and their races put together by several larger Vermont news outlets including Seven Days, VtDigger and Vermont Public Radio. 

In addition, several Harwood Union High School seniors last school year who worked to encourage eligible students to register have assembled a voter guide for the Aug. 11 state primary.