Office of Lt. Governor David Zuckerman
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 14th, 2023
Contact
Lisa Gerlach
Chief of Staff, Office of the Lt. Governor
(802)636-7047
Lisa.gerlach@vermont.gov
NEWS: Lt. Governor Zuckerman to give Testimony on Draft Reforms to Election Laws
MONTPELIER, Vt: On Wednesday Feb 15th, Lt. Governor Zuckerman will testify in the House Government Operations Committee on the miscellaneous reforms to election laws draft (23-0705) which includes proposals to get rid of Vermont’s fusion voting system, reducing transparency as well as voter choice.
Lt. Governor Zuckerman, having first run for office in 1994, has 26 years and 13 campaigns of elections experience. He has run both under a single party label as well as under a bridge-building fusion label six time. Lt. Governor Zuckerman has also participated in election reform discussions many times throughout his terms of public service.
Ahead of his testimony, Lt. Governor Zuckerman released the following statement:
"It appears that many of the proposals in this draft are solutions in search of problems. Many of these solutions are likely to create larger negative consequences than what they are replacing. The current election law allowing Party fusion labels has allowed candidates to seek the consensus of primary voters from multiple parties. It reduces the likelihood of creating “spoiler” situations in a general election. In all likelihood, with the passage of these reforms, there will be far more “spoiler” elections or far less choice for general election voters. We should be working to expand choice, not limit voters’ choices to a binary system.
Lt. Governor Zuckerman’s testimony will begin at 10:15 am in the House Government Operations Committee (Room 10) and will be livestreamed on the committee’s YouTube channel.
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