Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas is calling for a revote in the race for the Bennington-1 House seat after an error was discovered in the town of Pownal’s voter checklist that may have impacted the outcome of Tuesday’s election.
About 40 voters on Pownal’s checklist were placed in the wrong legislative district, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Democrat John Cooper won the race for the House seat by 25 votes over Republican Bruce Busa, according to unofficial results. Cooper received 1,265 votes (48.3%) to Busa’s 1,240 votes (47.35%).
The error, according to the office, stemmed from the reapportionment process, which redraws district boundaries in the Vermont House and Senate every 10 years to adjust for population changes. When new districts were created in 2022, the centerline of Barber Pond Road in Pownal was set as the boundary between two legislative districts.
The Bennington-5 House district covers the north side of the road, while the south side is in the Bennington-1 district. Residents on the south side were erroneously recorded as living in Bennington-5 — an error not discovered until after both the 2022 and 2024 elections. In Tuesday’s election, the mistake led to roughly 40 voters receiving a ballot with the wrong House district, according to the secretary of state.
For a revote to take place, Vermont law requires the losing candidate to file a request for a recount within seven calendar days of the election. The court, in this case Bennington County Superior Court, then has several ways to address the problem.
Among the court’s options are ordering a district-wide recount, a town-wide revote or a district-wide revote. The Vermont Secretary of State’s Office said it supports a district-wide revote so every voter in the district has a chance to have their vote counted.
The office said it isn’t calling for a revote in the Bennington-5 House race because it wasn’t close enough for the error to have impacted the outcome. Incumbent Rep. Jim Carroll, a Democrat, was defeated, while Republican Rep. Mary Morrissey was reelected. Former Rep. Michael Nigro, a Democrat, was also elected. Morrissey received the most votes (2,157), followed by Nigro (1,940) and Carroll (1,763).
Read the story on VTDigger here: Voter checklist error prompts call for revote in Pownal House race.