Valliere contests Barre vote
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By David Delcore Times Argus Staff - Published: November 27, 2008
BARRE – In a move he hopes will "shine a light" on problems with the city's voter checklist, Leo Valliere says he will challenge his narrow loss to Paul Poirier in the Washington 3-1 legislative district.
"We're going to contest it," said Valliere, whose bid for a fifth consecutive two-year term in the Vermont Legislature was narrowly derailed by Poirier earlier this month.
Although Poirier, a Democrat, won the Election Day count and the subsequent recount that was conducted last week at Valliere's request, the Barre Republican said he's still not satisfied.
According to Valliere, he has identified more than 50 voters who cast ballots in the local legislative race who don't live in the district, including many who don't even live in Barre.
After consulting with Montpelier attorney Paul Gillies, Valliere said he decided to contest the election that he lost by 25 votes, though he has no illusions the outcome will be reversed.
"It's not about being a 'sore loser,'" he said Wednesday. "The whole point we want to bring out is the checklist is a mess and when it gets messy like this there can be mischief in it."
Valliere said he will file the necessary paperwork outlining his request with Secretary of State Deb Markowitz by Friday's deadline. Markowitz, in turn, will be required to ask the state Attorney General's Office to launch an investigation into Valliere's allegations and report back to her at least 10 days before the Legislature convenes in January.
However, Valliere conceded that even if that investigation confirms what he believes – that there are more than enough voters who shouldn't have been allowed to cast ballots in his closely contested race to conceivably erase Poirier's 25-vote margin of victory – nothing will change.
Ultimately, it would be up to the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives to decide whether to overturn the Election Day results based on alleged discrepancies involving the checklist.
"At that point you have to say: 'You've got a snowball's chance in hell'," Valliere said.
Still, Valliere, who serves as chairman of Barre's board of civil authority, wants an independent investigation of "discrepancies and irregularities" regarding the checklist in hopes of cleaning it up in the future.
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