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Witnesses urge overhaul of H.541, warning draft could chill political speech and lack due-process safeguards
Summary
Testimony on H.541, a bill targeting interference with election officials, urged clearer definitions, procedural guardrails, and First Amendment review. Town clerks described repeated harassment; legal experts warned the civil-investigation provisions risk constitutional challenges.
Lawmakers heard hours of testimony on a bill, H.541, that would make certain interference with election officials a civil and criminal matter, with witnesses urging substantial rewrites to avoid constitutional and procedural problems.
Sally Ober, town clerk of Lincoln and a member of the Vermont Municipal Clerks and Treasurers Association, told the House Judiciary panel that clerks face repeated, time-consuming harassment that disrupts election preparations. "Election officials perform their work under oath to uphold the laws of their state and of The United States constitution," Ober said, and she read the VMCTA resolution "strongly condemn[ing] threatening, harassing, bribing, or interfering with election officials." Ober described a "7 page manifesto" email and a 2024 incident in which a voter warned of violence; she said she reported the threats to the secretary of state's office and to the…
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