Op/Ed

Editorial: Don’t toss that ballot!

ANGELO LYNN

If you were slightly surprised to discover your General Election ballot was tucked in your mailbox recently, you’re not alone. We received several comments from area voters who also noted, with some alarm, that voters are responsible for not losing their personalized ballot because the town clerk’s office may not have enough blank ballots if too many residents treated the official-looking mailings as, you guessed it, junk mail.

Attention: It’s not junk.

Rather, the ballot is coded to the person and his or her address, complete with state and local elections pertaining to the voter.

Nor is this the first time we’ve all received General Election ballots by mail. It started, naturally, during the Covid pandemic. The Legislature gave authority to the Secretary of State’s office to make this change on a temporary basis for the 2020 election. Seeing the success of universal vote by mail, the Legislature codified those changes in the following session for the 2022 election and thereafter.

If this change in the way we now vote is a blur to you, chalk it up to Covid fog. Or perhaps when it happened before we all thought it was a temporary pandemic measure, like wearing a mask. Or maybe some of us simply yearn for the social interaction of voting in our community polling places — a ritual not to be lightly dismissed — and hoped such a sterile, antiseptic way of voting was all a bad dream.

Well, it’s no dream. Universal vote by mail is here to stay. The one criticism we have of this extended roll-out in the way we vote is that it was not well promoted for this election. Press releases were emailed, PSAs were no doubt issued, but for such a major change one might have thought a larger public campaign was warranted.

The good news is the change should encourage more residents to vote. It’s easy, and voters have plenty of time to research the candidates — even for positions they’ve never heard of. (Remind me again what the high bailiff does and why it’s important.) The Secretary of State’s office also created an online Voter Guide, which includes a list of position descriptions for elected officials so voters can learn about the duties of each office. Voters can also access their own ‘My Voter Page’ at this website: https://mvp.vermont.gov/

None of that replaces the opportunity to chat with your town clerk and local poll workers during this upcoming election on Nov. 5, but hey, that’s still an option. Just remember to bring your ballot if you do.

Angelo Lynn

Share this story:

More News
Op/Ed

Editorial: Cutting the ‘federal’ out of our pledge

“The Republican line of folly is that states are better at managing aid to their citizens … (read more)

Op/Ed

Ways of Seeing: No time for boredom anymore

I’m bored. This constant refrain during the long unstructured summer vacations of my youth … (read more)

Op/Ed

Legislative Review: Heffernan reports on his first session as a senator

I have tried hard to represent our county with high integrity and determination to make ne … (read more)

Share this story: