H.429 AN ACT RELATING TO MISCELLANEOUS CHANGES TO ELECTION LAWS – SIBILIA AMENDMENT
FAILED
in the State House of Representatives
on March 2, 2023, by a vote of
59-78
Purpose: H.429 was passed on a voice vote, and introduces various election reforms, such as giving the Secretary of State greater freedom to send and receive ballots from Vermonters in other countries, and increasing the amount that a candidate for can give to a political party from $10,000 to $60,000.
The Sibilia Amendment would have removed the provision in H.429 that prohibits major party candidates who lost their primaries from running in Vermont’s general election as a candidate without political affiliation, or “Independent.”
Analysis: Some of those voting YES believe restricting independent candidates in the general election necessarily creates the conditions for the most extreme candidates to win elections, weakening Vermont’s democracy.
Those voting NO maintain that the will of the voters to choose an independent candidate is respected by H.429, so long as they did not run in the primaries. Allowing Independent candidates to run in the general election increases the chances that the Independent candidate will split votes with the primary victor, decreasing the chances of that party’s candidate winning the election.
As Recorded in the House Journal, for Thursday, March 2, 2023, “Shall the bill be amended as offered by Rep. Sibilia of Dover in the first instance of amendment?, was decided in the negative. Yeas, 59. Nays, 78.” (Read the Journal, p. 381-383).
Watch the floor debate on Youtube.
How They Voted
(Click on your Rep’s name to send an email)
Julie Andrews ( D-Westford) - NO |
Larry Labor (R - Morgan) – YES |
SEE MORE ROLL CALL VOTES
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