Vermont officials are pushing back on a threat from President Donald Trump to do away with mail-in ballots and “voting machines.”
On Monday, Trump, a Republican, posted to his Truth Social account, “I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we’re at it, Highly “Inaccurate,” Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES…” which he said cost more and are less accurate than “Watermark Paper.”
In the same post, Trump falsely claimed that the United States is the only country that allows voting by mail. According to PBS News, 34 countries allow “postal voting.”
Trump’s post goes on to say he’ll sign an executive order to “help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections.” It then makes claims about the federal government having control over elections after attacking “Open Borders, Men Playing in Women’s Sports, Transgender and ‘WOKE’ for everyone, and so much more ….”
Gov. Phil Scott said at a press conference Wednesday that he doesn’t agree with the president’s remarks.
“I think mail-in voting has been helpful in a lot of respects,” Scott, a Republican, said. “I think, to be honest, it’s brought a little bit more balance to the Legislature, having mail-in voting. That’s my own opinion. So I disagree that it’s unsafe. Could it be made better? Possibly — I don’t know how.”
He said that there’s been a decline in the number of people voting in recent years, and less participation at Town Meeting Day, a trend he claimed mail-in ballots have pushed against.
“I think as long as we can continue to keep the integrity of the mail-in ballot program. I think it’s worthwhile and useful,” Scott said.
Voting by mail had been an option for Vermont voters, though they had to request a ballot be sent to them in order to do so. That changed during the pandemic when the practice was expanded in order to keep COVID-19 from spreading at the polls. The Legislature subsequently passed a bill making mail-in voting permanent.
Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas released a statement Monday saying the claims Trump made in his post are similarly baseless as those found in an executive order from March requiring voters prove their citizenship.
That order is facing a number of challenges in court.
“The President appears to be confused about several key facts when it comes to American elections,” Copeland Hanzas stated.
She stated that the federal Constitution puts states in control over elections and gives Congress the ability to pass laws regarding them. The executive branch does not have the powers Trump claims.
“This means that, in the absence of a law passed by Congress, state law dictates all matters around elections. Either way, our country is not set up to operate by executive fiat — our founding fathers were quite clear about that,” Copeland Hanzas stated.
According to Copeland Hanzas, mail-in ballots are a secure method of voting and lead to increased turnout.
“Now, as for the ‘voting machines’ that the president referenced, it’s unclear whether he’s referencing the vote-counting machines, known as ‘tabulators,’ used in every Vermont district that has more than 1,000 voters,” Copeland Hanzas stated. “He did mention that he likes paper ballots — I do, too. Per state law, we use paper ballots and those are kept for 22 months after a federal election. In truth, 98% of Americans cast paper ballots. Our secure, air-gapped tabulators are faster and more accurate than hand-counting.”
Copeland Hanzas stated that she plans to work with Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark to protect voters’ rights.
“Since losing in 2020, President Trump has continued to push disinformation and blatant lies about our voting systems. The president’s latest threats undermine the public’s faith in the security of our voting system, and seek to weaken state governments’ power to conduct our elections,” stated Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. “The president is siding with (Russian President) Vladimir Putin over America’s top cybersecurity experts, who have said our election infrastructure is secure. The facts are clear: mail-in voting is safe, and our elections are fair. I’ll stand with my colleagues in the Senate to block any order that limits Vermonters’ ability to vote.”
Politico reported Tuesday that Trump claimed Putin, in a recent meeting between the two, said there had been fraud in U.S. elections because of mail-in voting.
According to MIT Election Data Science Lab, 32% of voters voted by mail in the 2022 elections, a 10% decrease from 2020.
Story Written by Keith Whitcomb Jr., Rutland Herald