Vermont Gov. Phil Scott indicated on Tuesday that he wants state lawmakers to pass legislation that gives voting rights to all legal residents statewide in local elections.
Scott made the comments in his official letters vetoing two bills, H.177 (pdf) and H.227 (pdf), which proposed to allow noncitizen residents of Montpelier and Winooski to vote in local elections, respectively.
“This is an important policy discussion that deserves further consideration and debate,” Scott said in the letters. “I understand these charter changes are well-intentioned, but I ask the Legislature to revisit the issue of non-citizen voting in a more comprehensive manner and develop a statewide policy or a uniform template and process for those municipalities wishing to grant the right of voting in local elections to all legal residents.”
State House Speaker Jill Krowinski opposed Scott’s veto and signaled she’s working to override the veto.
“I can appreciate the Governor’s desire to have a statewide framework for policy, and that is important in some policy matters, but it simply doesn’t work in situations like this that require charters to be tailored to a specific community,” Krowinski said in a statement.
“The legislature is returning on June 23 to June 24, and this is something that we feel strongly must be addressed to recognize and honor the voices of the citizens of Montpelier and Winooski,” Krowinski added.
Democrats control both the House and Senate in Vermont.
Scott, a Republican, notably voted for President Joe Biden in last year’s election.
“As many of you knew, I didn’t support President [Donald] Trump. I wasn’t going to vote for him. Then I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t enough for me to just not vote. I had to vote against,” Scott said at the time, VTDigger reported.
Last month, Scott also expressed his willingness to sign a bill that would allow sending general election mail-in ballots to all active voters.
BY LI HAI
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