The state’s primary elections are behind us, and the Vermont Democratic Party is now investigating possible election interference in Windham County.
The party claims that anonymous letters attacking a Democratic candidate were sent to voters in Guilford days before the election.
The anonymous letter primarily mentions Zon Eastes, the current chairman of the Guilford Selectboard, who ran as a Democrat for the vacant seat in the Vermont House of Representatives in Windham One district.
Although Eastes ultimately won his primary, Democrats are still trying to figure out who sent the letters. The Vermont Democratic Party alleges that one candidate may have engaged in illegal efforts to deceive voters about his opponent ahead of Tuesday’s primary.
Jim Dandeneau, executive director of the Vermont Democratic Party, said: “This is a clear attempt to undermine people’s faith in free and fair elections in Guilford and Vernon.”
The letter accused Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives Zon Eastes of criminal activity and election fraud, saying he abused his position as chairman of the Guilford City Council to access the city’s voter records and tamper with ballots.
Director Jim Dandeneau said the actual election fraud stemmed from this letter spreading misinformation about Eastes.
“This is criminal election interference. This is a violation of campaign finance law, this is a violation of campaign communications laws,” Dandeneau continued. “It’s also very shady that it was presented as official correspondence from the city, and we believe that was in part an attempt to suppress some votes.”
Although there is no evidence yet as to who sent the letter, Democrats have a sneaking suspicion that it may be Eastes’ opponent Jason Herron, who previously ran as a Republican but switched parties for this year’s primaries.
“It has all the hallmarks of a typical MAGA extremist attack on our electoral system… We don’t know whether Jason Herron is connected to these letters or not, but we do know he has a history as a MAGA extremist,” Dandeneau told us.
In a statement posted on social media, Herron denied the allegations and pointed the finger at Eastes, saying he sent the letters to make people think he was being attacked.
Herron wrote: “This was done with the intent of discouraging citizens from voting for me while encouraging them to vote for my opponent… This letter is a vicious attack with the deliberate intent of destroying my reputation on Election Day and was perpetrated by wealthy and influential members behind the iron curtain of the Democratic Party… (I have) never sent an anonymous letter to anyone before.”
In the end, Eastes is expected to win the primary by a wide margin over Herron. The unofficial result is 743 votes to 256, but the Secretary of State will need a few days to certify the result.
While Eastes now turns his attention to the November election, the Democratic Party has already launched its own investigation into the anonymous letters, filing public records requests with the city of Guilford and reporting to the Vermont Secretary of State.
Eastes said he only learned of the situation last night and had not yet read the letter. He told us he was “deeply honored and touched by the support I have received from voters in Vernon and Guilford.”
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