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Committee weighs draft 5.1 of S.298, shifting voter‑dilution language into 17 VSA and sparking a posting dispute between SOS and Ethics Commission
Summary
The Senate Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee reviewed draft 5.1 of S.298 Friday, a reorganization that renames the bill the Voter Protection Act and would move vote‑dilution provisions into a subchapter of 17 VSA chapter 55 (extending attorney‑general investigatory reach). The draft also prescribes how candidate disclosure forms and FAQs are posted online, prompting disagreement between the Secretary of State's Office and the State Ethics Commission over who hosts and answers candidate questions.
Tim Devlin, legislative counsel, told the Senate Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee Friday that draft 5.1 of S.298 would rename the bill the Voter Protection Act and reorganize several provisions so that vote‑denial or vote‑dilution language becomes a subchapter of 17 VSA chapter 55 — the statutes that address offenses against the peace of elections. Devlin said that placing the new language inside that chapter would bring it under the attorney general's investigatory authority established earlier this year, and that most edits in the current draft are renumbering or drafting reorganizations rather than substantive change.
Devlin said the amendment package also adds prescriptive requirements for candidate disclosure materials: the State Ethics Commission would make the disclosure form, FAQs and any informational resources available on its website and answer candidate questions by phone or email; the Secretary of…
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