By CHRIS GAROFOLO – Brattleboro Reformer
BRATTLEBORO — Gov. James Douglas waived his veto power Wednesday morning, allowing legislation pushing the state’s primary election up three weeks to become law despite his opposition to the bill.
Beginning Thursday after midnight, the Vermont primary election date will officially move from Sept. 14 to Aug. 24.
Advocates hailed the bill as an opportunity for election officials to send ballots to overseas voters. New federal mandates require states to provide 45 days before a general election to out-of-state residents seeking to cast a ballot.
“Vermonters should be proud of the initiative our Legislature has taken to ensure that the votes of our bravest citizens, those who serve our country in the armed forces, are able to be counted,” said Judy Bevans, chairwoman of the state’s Democratic Party.
But opponents considered the move a Democratic political stunt intending to provide the party with more time between the primary and general election on Nov. 2.
Currently, five Democrats are vying for the party’s nomination to replace Douglas, a four-term Republican not seeking re-election this fall.
In a letter to the secretary of the Senate, Douglas announced he would not veto the measure, which allows it to become law without his signature.
According to the governor, the new law is a guise assuring Vermonters the military personnel votes are counted, but will likely discourage voter participation in the long run.
“Neither the Secretary of State nor the Legislature properly explored alternatives to moving the date. In the 21st century, new technologies, such as the electronic transmission of ballots, can ensure all Vermonters, military and civilian alike, receive their ballots, cast them and have them counted without changing the primary date,” said Douglas.
“Despite these objections, I am letting [the bill] go into law without my signature. It is evident that there is not the will this year to make our longstanding September primary work,” he said. “I greatly regret that and encourage the Legislature and the next Secretary of State to carefully analyze the impact of the summer primary on voter participation.”
Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, said he was pleased the governor consented to the measure.
“We have more National Guard troops deployed than at any time in Vermont’s history since World War II, and they deserve to be able to vote when they’re making the ultimate sacrifice for their country,” said Shumlin, one of the gubernatorial candidates.
Bevans criticized Douglas for not signing the bill — “These men and women are serving our country overseas, yet our governor doesn’t feel it’s important to see that their votes are counted back home.
“He has said that the reason he chose not to veto this bill was that he wanted to ‘pick his battles.’ It’s a shame those who are deployed don’t have that luxury,” she said.
While the legislation pushes the primary election forward, it also affects the deadline for petitions and nomination statements from independent and third-party candidates. The new standards set for hopefuls outside the two major parties has created some strange political bedfellows.
Peter Diamondstone, co-secretary of the Liberty Union Party, said the purpose of the new law is to give the Democrats three weeks to unite their base after the primary.
“It is adopted to protect, particularly the Democratic Party. They need the extra time to patch up their party before they come to the general election,” he said. It is aimed at Democrats this election cycle, but could protect Republican candidates in a future primary, he added.
The new law requires minor party and independent candidates to file their primary petitions between the second Monday of May and the second Thursday in June, when they would have until September under the previous ordinance.
What this law does for minor parties such as Liberty Union, according to Diamondstone, is force them to run a candidate of their own when members could support one of the Democrats.
“There is no way to react to the results of the primary,” he said. If Liberty Union members supported one of the five Democrats, but that candidate lost, where does that leave the party, especially if Liberty Union does not field one?
Statehouse officials said the issue of independent/minor party candidates and their filing deadline was a concern for Republicans.
Many GOP lawmakers felt candidates could get “two bites of the apple” if the office-seeker was defeated in a party’s primary and enter the race again as an independent. Moving the petition deadline forward was part of a compromise between legislators.
The double-dipping issue became national news in Connecticut when Sen. Joseph Lieberman lost the 2006 Democratic primary to political newcomer Ned Lamont, but later rallied to re-election when he won as an independent candidate.
“It really is a policy issue about whether or not we’re giving candidates an opportunity to run in a primary, and if they lost the primary, to run as an independent,” said Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz, a Montpelier Democrat running for governor.
The issue of shifting the election timeframe has come before the General Assembly in prior sessions, and Markowitz said her office has not supported the previous attempts to move the primary date forward.
In a future legislative session, the next governor could take another look at the timeline for filing petitions in regard to independents and third parties, she added.
This article appeared in the Brattleboro Reformer
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