ACLU Publishes New Poll of Vermont Voters

Montpelier, Vt. – The ACLU of Vermont is releasing a poll of likely Vermont voters showing strong, cross-partisan support for defending and advancing civil liberties across a wide range of issues impacting our state and our democracy. While Vermont has made progress on many of these popular issues, others have faced opposition from state leaders in recent years.
ACLU of Vermont Executive Director James Lyall: “Vermont has strong democratic traditions and pro-civil liberties values, yet we don’t always see that reflected in the actions of our elected leaders. At a time when democracy is under attack outside of Vermont, we need to do everything we can to strengthen our democracy here at home. That starts with an informed and engaged electorate along with responsive leaders who act with urgency on the legitimate needs, concerns, and values of their constituents.”
Topping the list of issues voters identified as priorities were healthcare, housing, and wealth inequality, with two out of three respondents saying Vermont should invest more in making sure that all Vermonters have their basic needs met – including access to food, shelter, and healthcare. Seventy-two percent support increasing taxes on the wealthy to help meet our communities’ basic needs.
In addition, the poll showed strong majorities of Vermonters support civil liberties positions:

• Two out of three voters say it’s important for state leaders to resist federal threats to Vermont’s civil rights protections.

• More than sixty percent would support a policy that provides legal representation for immigrants in deportation hearings and bans state and federal law enforcement from concealing their identity. A majority of voters, and eighty-two percent of Democrats, support the elimination of ICE.

• Likewise, more than sixty percent of voters, and eighty-two percent of Democrats, favor investments in people’s basic needs over increased reliance on prisons.

• Along with seventy-two percent of Vermonters supporting increasing taxes on the wealthy Vermonters to meet basic needs, sixty-two percent would be more likely to vote for a candidate if they supported increasing taxes on the wealthiest Vermonters.

• There is strong support for increased transparency in and oversight of the Department for Children and Families (DCF), with seventy-five percent of voters in support and only seven percent opposed.

• Sixty-nine percent favor changing state policy so that everyone can vote on local matters, even if they can’t attend Town Meeting Day in person.

Voters’ positions on many of these issues have remained consistent over time. Nonetheless, state leaders in recent years have not always acted in ways that are consistent with the views of their constituents – adopting policies that have increased the prison population, cut emergency shelter and mental health programs, and delayed implementation of juvenile justice reforms.

While this year legislators passed legislation to uphold constitutional rights in the face of federal overreach and to protect sensitive locations from immigration enforcement, they failed to act on legislation to increase taxes on the wealthiest Vermonters, address racial profiling, or ban law enforcement from wearing masks to conceal their identities.

The ACLU of Vermont is a non-partisan organization and does not support candidates for elected office. The complete poll results are available here.