There is quite a list of Candidates on the ballot. Statewide offices have the following slates:

By Fred Lucas | The Daily Signal

Hawaii may be paradise for vacation spots, but the Aloha State comes in last place in a ranking of all 50 states based on the strength of their election laws.

Going into the midterm elections Nov. 8, the nominal battleground state of Nevada comes in second to last in laws promoting clean and honest elections, while California—the largest state in the nation—is third from the bottom, according to The Heritage Foundation Election Integrity Scorecard. (The Daily Signal is Heritage’s multimedia news organization.)

Rounding out the 10 worst states are Oregon at 48, Vermont, Washington and New Jersey in a tie, and Massachusetts, New York, and Nebraska at 42.

Heritage’s scorecard ranks the states and the District of Columbia based on factors such as voter ID implementation; accuracy of vote registration lists; absentee ballot management; restrictions on ballot trafficking, also known as ballot harvesting; access for election observers; vote-counting practices; and restrictions on private funding for election administration.

Rounding out the 10 worst states are Oregon at 48, Vermont, Washington and New Jersey in a tie, and Massachusetts, New York, and Nebraska at 42.

The District of Columbia came in at No. 25.

Nebraska scored 0 out of 20 in the category of voter ID, but scored well in other categories, Nebraska Secretary of State Robert Evnen, a Republican, said.

“If Nebraska had voter ID, we’d be in the top 15,” Evnen told The Daily Signal. “There is a voter ID initiative petition that would put it on the ballot in November. If it goes on the ballot, we believe that it would be overwhelmingly adopted.”

Nebraska has an overall score of 47 out of 100. It scored well, 19 out of 30 points, on accuracy of voter registration lists, and 14 out of 21 on absentee ballot management. But the state also scored 0 out of 4 points on ballot-trafficking restrictions and 0 out of 4 on citizenship verification.

Nebraskans will cast ballots for governor, among other offices, in November.

“I have several other legislative initiatives, for example, restricting drop boxes and making ballot harvesting a felony, some of which passed, and others didn’t,” Evnen said. “If my initiatives had all passed, Nebraska would be about No. 10 in the rankings.”

The Daily Signal sought comment from the offices of chief state election officials or state election boards for each state in the bottom 10 of Heritage’s Election Integrity Scorecard. Only Evnen responded by publication time.

The top four states in the Election Integrity Scorecard—Tennessee, followed by Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri—all have overall scores of 80 or higher. The remaining states in the top 10—South Carolina, then Arkansas, Florida, Texas, and, in a tie, Louisiana and Wisconsin—scored 75 or higher.

Coming in dead last, Hawaii’s overall score was 26 out of 100 points. The state, which has a gubernatorial election this year, scored 0 in most categories. Its highest score was 13 out of 30 for the accuracy of voting lists.

Nevada, where voters in November will decide races for governor and U.S. Senate among other offices, has an overall score of 28 out of 100. Its highest score was 16 out of 30 points on accuracy of voter registration lists. The state scored 2 out of 20 on voter ID.

California, where statewide races on the ballot also include governor and U.S. Senate, has an overall score of 30 out of 100. The state scored 0 in most categories but got 19 points for accuracy of voter registration lists.

Oregon, also with races for governor and U.S. Senate, rolled up an overall score of 38 out of 100. Notably for a state with all-mail voting, it scored 7 out of 21 points for absentee ballot management and 0 for restrictions on ballot trafficking. Oregon scored relatively well for accuracy of voter registration lists, access for election observers, and restrictions on same-day voter registration.

Vermont scored 39 overall, with the highest score, 22, for accuracy of voter registration lists. Vermont voters also will cast ballots in races for governor and U.S. Senate.

Washington, another all-mail voting state, scores just 4 points out of 21 for absentee ballot management and zero for ballot-trafficking restrictions—areas that most affect mail-in voting. Washington, where voters will decide a U.S. Senate race, had an overall score of 42.

New Jersey, where voters will decide U.S. House and local races, had an overall score of 42. Its highest scores were 16 points for accuracy of voter registration lists and 10 out of 21 for absentee ballot management.

Massachusetts, with a race for governor among other offices, scored 45 overall. The state scored well, with the maximum 4 points, on ballot trafficking restrictions. Its highest score was 17 for accuracy of voter registration lists.

New York scored 46 overall on the Election Integrity Scorecard in a year with a gubernatorial and a U.S. Senate race on the ballot. The state’s best scores were 20 out of 30 points for accuracy of voter registration lists and 11 out of 21 for absentee ballot management.

“Some states have improved, but some of the worst states have gotten worse,” Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow for The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal. “Too many states aren’t willing to have basic voter ID laws in place, and some are making matters worse with automatic voter registration and same-day voter registration.”

Residents of these states should speak up, said von Spakovsky, who manages Heritage’s Election Law Reform Initiative.

“I would tell folks in these states [to] show up at meetings of the county election boards, volunteer to be a poll worker,” he said. “Getting involved at the grassroots level can prompt improvement.”

Practical Actions You Can Take by Debbie Wuthnow

Courtesy of iVoterGuide

As we all know, voting is effective only insofar as people participate and legitimate votes are counted correctly. Now that early voting for the 2022 General Election is nearly upon us, it’s crucial to be reminded of the actions you can take to preserve our liberty.

In recent years, election fraud has been the focus of much attention. As citizens work with state legislatures to enact laws that make voting more secure—and stop destructive federal overreach—do you know that it is within your power to make a difference right now?

Less than twenty percent of those eligible actually vote, and even fewer take part in facilitating the voting process, which is essential to free and fair elections. I want to give you an overview of three things that you can do this season besides casting your vote:

Courtesy of Ethan Allen Institute

Here are sixteen fairly stated and timely questions voters should put to those seeking legislative office this November. Voters deserve to know where office seekers stand. That’s what makes democracy work.

1. Should the legislature require the top five percent of Vermont income taxpayers to pay a $30 million income tax surcharge to finance a “Green New Deal”?
2. Should the legislature broaden the current 6% sales and use tax on goods to include services (such as haircuts, lawn maintenance, plumbing, legal advice, etc.)?
3. Should the legislature make it an annual practice to contribute at least 10% more than the Annual Required Contribution to the two state retirement funds in order to eliminate their more than $5 Billion unfunded liabilities by 2040?
4. The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2020 set mandatory carbon dioxide emissions reduction targets for 2025, 2030, and 2050. This is to be accomplished by rules controlling all usage of gasoline, diesel fuel, natural gas, heating oil and propane. These rules would take effect without any vote by elected representatives. Should all such rules be presented to the legislature for approval before taking effect?
5. The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2020 authorizes “any person” to bring a lawsuit against the State if the emission reduction rules fail to achieve the adopted targets. Should this “sue the State” provision be repealed?
6.  Under the Congressional Review Act, a simple majority of both chambers of Congress can pass a resolution of disapproval to kill a rule. Should one fifth of the members of the Vermont House or Senate be allowed to force a record vote on a resolution of disapproval of new state rules that will have large economic impacts?
7. Should Vermont join ten other states in a multi-state agreement called the Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI-P), by which Vermont agrees to discourage the use of motor fuel by increasing gasoline and diesel taxes by a steadily increasing 5-17 cents/gallon , using the revenue to subsidize “green” projects such as electric vehicle subsidies, EV charging stations, electric buses, etc.?
8. Should the legislature adopt a “Clean Heat Standard” designed to increase the price of home and business heating fuel in order to raise money to finance weatherization, electric heat pumps, and other “green” projects favored by the Public Utility Commission?
9. Should the legislature make “carbon neutrality”, either through the use of building materials and processes or the purchase of “carbon offsets”, a requirement for obtaining an Act 250 development permit? 
10. Should the legislature mandate that residential buildings conform to State-established “green” energy efficiency standards before a title can be transferred?
11.  Should persons be free to make personal use of drugs like heroin and fentanyl, provided that they accept financial responsibility for medical treatment for overdoses?
12. Should the legislature require electric vehicles to contribute the equivalent of a motor fuel tax to the Transportation Fund, as do on-road gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles, to pay for maintenance of State roads and bridges?
13. Should the general election ballot offer voters a choice among teams of Governor and Lt. Governor candidates, with the lower state offices filled on a nonpartisan basis by appointment and confirmation? (The One Big Choice Plan).
14.  Should able-bodied persons who receive state welfare assistance be required to perform 10 hours a week of volunteer service in their communities?
15.  Should the legislature allow all parents to choose the school or educational program that best fits the needs of their children from among a wide array of providers, with their portion of Education Fund dollars following the child?
16. Should the legislature approve a “Community Resilience and Biodiversity Act” (vetoed in 2022) to designate 30% of Vermont as undevelopable “conservation” districts by 2030, and 50% by 2050?

       There are of course many other questions that could be posed. But pressing candidates to respond to these will give voters a good measure of the views and abilities of people seeking elective office. Voters deserve to know what they’ll get by giving their votes. That’s what makes democracy work.

By John McClaughry

Last week we saw another example of how Democrats have a fundamentally different approach to solving problems than Republicans do. Despite Speaker Pelosi telling us he didn’t have the authority a few months ago, President Biden unilaterally paid for some portions of student loans using taxpayer money.

Putting aside for a moment the priority that Democrats have given to the increasing student loan, over other things like public safety, fixing the supply chain and creating housing that is affordable, there are a few problems with the way that Democrats addressed this issue, which establishes a pattern they use on other issues.

As someone who has always been pro-choice, I have talked to many Vermonters about Prop 5/Article 22, the constitutional amendment on the November ballot. They are supportive because all they hear is that it’s about a woman’s right to do with her body what she will, and how can you say no to that?

But they have second thoughts when they find out that it allows for an on-demand abortion up to and including nine months.

Nine months – think about it a minute. When is a fetus a baby?

I don’t know the answer, but I would think that at nine months at the very least it can be referred to as an unborn baby. All systems are a go – heart, lungs, brain, limbs etc. All the unborn baby needs is one breath of air and it’s off to the races – a new living, breathing member of the human race.

Read more at Vermont Daily Chronicle

Title IX a part of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government. The Biden Administration is proposing changes that will drastically alter it. Parent? Grandparent? Civic Leader? Teacher? Pastor? You should be concerned. Proposed changes will effect parental and religious rights, not to mention privacy and the rights of our girls to compete on a level playing field athletically. This rule making is open to public comment until September 12th. The Child and Parental Rights Campaign has provided information, links and templates to assist you in commenting.

Go to https://childparentrights.org for ideas, information, and  resources.

We remember the thirteen brave young men and women who paid the ultimate price a year ago this week:

• Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, from Salt Lake City, Utah
• Sgt. Johanny Rosariopichardo, 25, from Lawrence, Massachusetts
• Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, from Sacramento, California
• Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, from Indio, California
• Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, from Omaha, Nebraska
• Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, from Logansport, Indiana
• Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, from Rio Bravo, Texas
• Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, from St. Charles, Missouri
• Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, from Jackson, Wyoming
• Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, from Rancho Cucamonga, California
• Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, from Norco, California

Image from Young America's Foundation

***MEDIA RELEASE***

For Immediate Release                                                                                                       Contact: Terry Williams

May 19, 2022                                                                                                                    802-342-7306/ [email protected]

Terry Williams Announces VT Senate Run

Rutland County, VT—Rutland County Republicans are pleased to have Terry Williams running to represent our county in the VT Senate. A resident of Poultney who has been a soldier, farmer and statesman, Williams is an eighth generation Vermonter. He retired from the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel after serving with the Army and Army National Guard for 35 years as both enlisted and officer ranks including one combat tour in Afghanistan. 

Terry has three children and four grandchildren, and stated, “I would like to serve in the Vermont Legislature as a senator in 2023 in order to improve their futures in our state.”

After retiring, he returned to Poultney and purchased his aunt and uncle’s dairy farm and started Slate Hill Farms LLC, a NOFA certified, organic vegetable farm which he still operates today. Williams has served on the Board of Directors of the Stone Valley community market and was a member of the Vermont Fresh Network, Rutland Area Farm to Food Link (RAFFL).

As an active, civil servant in his community for many years, Williams has served as  town health officer, select board member, and chairman of the town Public Safety Committee; Recently re-elected to another 3-year term on the Poultney select board, he is currently serving as the Vice Chairman, the Poultney Emergency Management Coordinator and as commissioner to the Rutland Regional Planning Commission.

As a veteran, Williams is currently serving on the board of directors of the Dodge House in Rutland and is the Finance officer at the J. Claire Carmody American Legion Post #39 in Poultney. He is a life member of the Disabled Veterans of America (DAV), and is a member of VFW Post 648 in Rutland.

Terry is also an avid outdoorsman, conservationist, and hunter serving as the VT Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs Southern Vice-President, a member of the Green Mountain Quarrymen’s Association, Vermont Coverts, Vermont Woodlands Association, the Poultney and Benson Fish & Game Clubs and the Manchester Rod & Gun Club.

Terry Williams’ life has been dedicated to his family, community, state, and nation and he will continue to serve faithfully if elected to the Senate in November.

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                                                     ***MEDIA RELEASE***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                          Contact: Dave Weeks

 May 12, 2022                                                                               [email protected] /802-417-9013

                              Dave Weeks Will Run for Rutland County Senate Seat

Rutland County, VT---The Rutland County Republicans are pleased to announce that Dave Weeks, originally from Wallingford, now residing in Proctor is joining the race to represent Rutland County as one of our State Senators.

Foremost on Dave’s agenda is regional economic rejuvenation via business incentives and tourism enhancement.  He recognizes the uniqueness of Vermont’s natural beauty/resources and the abundant underutilized local economic infrastructure, but believes strongly in balancing our quality of life for the next wave of regional economic revitalization. Dave sees a critical need for investing in highways/broadband infrastructure, lowering taxation, tourism rebranding, and working closely with our New York/New Hampshire/Massachusetts/Canadian neighbors.

As a political moderate and fiscal conservative, he is highly skilled at diplomacy and seeking consensus but believes strongly that the status quo in VT is not good enough. He is an extremely strong advocate of small government and minimal taxation.

Dave is a highly trained business diplomat specializing in re-stabilizing projects beyond a billion dollars; a 31-year veteran as a Navy Captain/Marine enlisted; Iraq veteran; Mill River/UVM graduate with three master’s degrees in business/strategic planning/public administration as well as PhD studies in national security; balanced environmentalist; strong education advocate; and a youth organization volunteer.

Devoted husband, father and son; youngest sibling of Bob and Gerry Weeks of Wallingford, married to Leeanne (education PhD currently leading an overseas international K-12 school),  parent to son Jake (biotech CPA), daughter Sarah (Physical Assistant student), step son Mitch (music producer), and step daughter Cassandra (undergrad student).

Dave’s abundant government experience with the highest levels of national/international leadership and the critical work of the Chambers of Commerce have inspired his drive to stabilize the chaos in government and the unfortunate erosion of faith in public institutions, and has enhanced a relentless emphasis on service for our community and our state. 

To put his legislative goals in a nutshell, Dave stated, “My focus now is to rejuvenate the economic condition in Rutland County while respecting the unique soul of Vermont.”

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