South Burlington explores all-resident voter expansion

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<img decoding="async" width="610" height="406" data-attachment-id="532261" data-permalink="https://vtdigger.org/south-burlington-voting-3-20220301/" data-orig-file="" data-orig-size="2000,1331" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"4","credit":"Glenn Russell","camera":"NIKON D750","caption":"Election workers check in voters in South Burlington on Town Meeting Day on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Photo by Glenn Russell\/VTDigger","created_timestamp":"1646129492","copyright":"Glenn Russell","focal_length":"24","iso":"5000","shutter_speed":"0.004","title":"south-burlington-voting-3 20220301","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="south-burlington-voting-3 20220301" data-image-description=" Election workers check in voters in South Burlington on Town Meeting Day on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

" data-image-caption=" Election workers check in voters in South Burlington on Town Meeting Day on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

" data-medium-file=" data-large-file=" tabindex="0" role="button" src=" alt="" class="wp-image-532261" srcset=" 610w, 300w, 125w, 768w, 1536w, 2000w" sizes="(max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px"/>Election workers check in voters in South Burlington on Town Meeting Day on March 1, 2022. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger This story by Liberty Darr was first published by The Other Paper on Sept. 12.

The South Burlington City Council last week directed its charter committee to explore the idea of allowing all legal residents of the city to vote in local elections.

The South Burlington Democratic Committee asked that the council place a question about voter expansion on the Town Meeting Day ballot next year to allow residents, even those who are non-U.S. citizens, to participate in local city elections and other supplementary school or city votes.

“This initiative is crucial to uphold the Vermont tradition of town meeting and ensure that all residents, regardless of citizenship status, have the opportunity to contribute to our community’s decision-making process,” Chris Shaw, chair of the South Burlington Democratic Committee, said at a city council meeting last month. “Expanding voter rights not only strengthens our democracy but also promotes inclusivity and civic engagement. It particularly benefits new Americans, unhoused individuals and other disenfranchised groups who contribute to the fabric of our community and deserve a voice in shaping its future.”

South Burlington’s charter committee was created in 2022 by the city’s previous council to explore different governance models and a possible expansion of the City Council and the South Burlington School Board.

The committee remains on hiatus until it receives a specific charge from the council regarding potential changes to the city’s charter.

The charter committee will bring a recommendation back to the council, which could then put the question to voters at the next Town Meeting Day, or in the future. If the voters approved, then it would go to the Legislature and Gov. Phil Scott for consideration and approval.

The school board had a similar discussion around all-resident voting at a board meeting in June. Members at the time were considering whether they would spearhead the effort or endorse the change should the council decide to take it up.

“In my experience with charter changes, and I’ve been through a number of them, public engagement is critical,” City Manager Jessie Baker told the South Burlington School Board in June.

“I would just like to say that this past budget season, I received an email from a South Burlington resident who lives here and pays taxes here but is unable to vote,” Board Chair Chelsea Tillinghast said. “I think if you can pay taxes, you should be able to vote, so I’m very much in favor of this idea.”

The resolution passed by council last week also included expanding the composition of the charter committee to include two standing appointments, two by the school board and one by the city clerk.

If all-resident voting eventually gets approved, South Burlington will become the fourth city in Vermont to allow it. Burlington, Winooski and Montpelier now allow non-resident voting and have survived court challenges against the measures.

According to Vermont Public, a lawsuit filed against the city of Winooski by the Vermont Republican Party, national GOP and two Winooski residents argued that only U.S. citizens should be allowed to vote on school issues. A Chittenden County judge dismissed the case last December, making it the third lawsuit challenging noncitizen voting in Vermont cities to be thrown out.

Elizabeth Fitzgerald was the only South Burlington council member to vote against the resolution, saying that the council should first focus on the organizational structure of the committee before charging it with a new task.

“I want to be clear, I’m not necessarily opposed to charging the charter committee with this task,” Fitzgerald said. “I felt like that particular charge was predicated primarily on a letter that was read in public session from Chris Shaw, and that the elements of that letter hadn’t really been warned or discussed by council. I thought we should maybe pull that from the resolution and talk about a broader scope of charges for not just the charter committee, but other committees as well.”

The resolution passed with four other councilors’ support.

“I think that, having a number of residents in our community who are not citizens but who are taxpaying contributors to our community, that we need to look at having them be able to have a voice in our politics,” Councilor Laurie Smith said.

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