Senate strike‑all amendment would tighten DMV automatic registration, write‑in rules and campaign‑finance filings

Legislative counsel Tim Devlin told the Government Operations & Military Affairs committee that a Senate “strike‑all” amendment to an elections bill (draft 8.1) would make multiple, substantive changes to voter registration, ballot procedures, write‑in votes and campaign‑finance rules.

The overview provided to the committee said the draft delays a ranked‑choice voting feasibility report to Jan. 15, 2028, alters ballot delivery and write‑in counting rules, changes campaign‑finance registration and reporting triggers, and amends automatic voter registration at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

Why it matters: The package would change when clerks must count write‑in votes, require uniformity in how candidates’ names appear on ballots, expand registration duties for candidates and committees regardless of money spent, and require evidence or attestation of U.S. citizenship for automatic DMV registration. Committee members and Secretary of State staff said the changes will require software and operational updates and training for town clerks.

The amendment would: delay a required secretary of state report on ranked‑choice voting to Jan. 15, 2028; remove a provision that had required a November 2026 report on permitting electronic ballot return for certain voters; set a 5 p.m. Thursday before an election as the deadline for a write‑in candidate to register to be counted; and change campaign‑finance triggers so candidates must register with the Secretary of State regardless of money received or spent, and parties/PACs must register within 10 days after making any expenditure.

On write‑in counting, sections 9–12 as described to the committee would require local officials to count write‑in votes only in five circumstances: when a write‑in files by the new Thursday deadline; when a write‑in previously filed a party consent form (fusion candidacies); when no candidate is printed on the ballot; when a printed candidate dies or is disqualified before polls close; or when total “other” write‑ins equal or exceed the votes for any printed candidate. Devlin and secretary of state staff described a process in which the Secretary of State’s Office would alert clerks if aggregated write‑in totals in multi‑municipality districts trigger a statewide recounting of write‑ins, and clerks would open sealed ballot bags only under prescribed safeguards and with state notice.

Deputy Secretary of State Lauren Hammond described the DMV change as statutory clarification rather than a new operational requirement. “We have requested these changes in response to reflect a more adequate representation of what’s actually happening in DMV,” Hammond said. “This is a fairly clarifying language, not changing any current process that’s happening in DMV, but just making it more clear what is happening.” Under the amendment, DMV would automatically transmit registration information only when the DMV has proof of U.S. citizenship or the applicant attests to U.S. citizenship; applicants would retain an opt‑out.

The bill would also change campaign‑finance definitions: the draft removes certain dollar thresholds (previously $500 for some candidate triggers and $1,000 for parties/PACs) and revises definitions so that political committees and independent‑expenditure (so‑called “super PAC”) entities could be treated as composed of “one or more” persons rather than the current statutory language requiring “two or more.” The amendment inserts parallel references to political committees and independent‑expenditure committees through the campaign‑finance chapter, while noting independent expenditure entities remain exempt from contribution limits under existing federal law.

Committee members asked the Secretary of State’s Office and legislative counsel for technical details and implementation planning. Officials told the committee they plan to produce updated summary/tally sheets that include declared write‑in candidates (entered after the Thursday deadline) so clerks can print complete tallies before the election return deadline. Officials said additional, rare scenarios (for example, a candidate’s death after ballot printing) would still trigger full write‑in counts.

No formal committee vote was recorded in the hearing transcript. Devlin said the Senate government‑operations committee was scheduled to consider the strike‑all amendment later the same day, and urged the House committee to “concur with the senate proposal of amendments unless there are strong policy reasons,” citing timing pressures in an election year.

The Secretary of State’s Office and the Clerk’s Association, as reported to the committee, support the operational approach but acknowledged the changes require training and system work. The committee asked the Secretary of State’s Office and DMV for follow‑up briefings on how proof/attestation of citizenship will be handled, and for additional clerk training plans before any final concurrence.

The committee’s staff materials identified specific statutory sections amended in the draft: parts referencing 17 V.S.A. §§ 21(45)(a), 23(61), 24(72), and other municipal election statutes; the draft also preserves a current statutory requirement that post‑election audits of vote tabulators be random (the Senate draft removed then restored that change, preserving the existing random‑audit requirement).