Early mail in voting has already begun for the August 11^th Vermont primary election. Candidates for Governor to Legislators have been canvassing, fundraising, rallying and asking for your vote. Traditionally primary elections have very low turnouts compared to general elections. This dangerous trend has led to fringe candidates making it to the general election leaving little to no choice for common sense candidates.

What’s at stake?

Many counties in Vermont are controlled by single political parties. In fact, in many races the general election has only one candidate with no challengers at all. This means the real race is during the primary to decide how your district will behave once elected. In some areas the lack of election challengers allows extreme fringe candidates to easily win.

What we do know is that not all members of a political party are the same. There are wide deltas in policy between centrist and fringe candidates, so we need to figure out who are the contractor champions and vote them in the August 11 primary.

Next Steps

1. Are you registered to vote?? Visit the Vermont Secretary of States Election Division to check your registration status and register if need be. If you are already registered, they have already mailed you a ballot. You may register up until and at the voting booth see instructions online.
2. Research your candidates. Vermont Public has a great Candidate Tool that you can simply type in your address and learn who is running in your district. Often you can search candidates names and locations to find their websites/social media to learn more. Sometimes the best thing to do is contact them directly to learn more!
3. Most important is to get out and vote. You can visit your town clerk to vote early or show up August 11^th for the in person voting. Check your towns voting hours in advance. Find ways to allow you and your staff to get to the voting booth (maybe early) especially if travelling to job sites out of your/their locale. Travelling to jobsites has been a major hurdle for workers who want to vote.
4. Sharing this information within your office and personal spheres is critical. There is a lot at stake this year and we need more Contractor Champions in office to keep your state moving in the right direction.

Please contact Matt Musgrave, ABC Vermont Regional Director, matt@abcnhvt.org with any questions about registering, engaging your candidates or having a get out the vote event at your organization.