## Role

H. Brooke Paige, known for his distinctive campaign style wearing a top hat and bow tie, has run for Vermont Secretary of State three times (2018, 2020, 2022) and for multiple other statewide offices. He won the Republican primary on August 9, 2022, with 70.65% of the vote against write-in opposition, then lost the general election on November 8, 2022, to Democrat Sarah Copeland Hanzas, receiving 34.74% (95,666 votes) compared to Hanzas’ 65.03% (179,087 votes). Media described him as “a top-hatted conspiracy theorist” during the 2022 campaign.

## Background

Paige has a decades-long history of filing lawsuits challenging various aspects of government operations and elections. Beyond his repeated secretary of state campaigns, he has run for attorney general, state auditor, and treasurer. After winning multiple Republican primaries in 2022, he withdrew from several races but remained on the ballot for secretary of state and treasurer, losing both. His persistent candidacies have established him as Vermont’s most prominent perennial candidate, using each campaign primarily as a platform for his litigation efforts.

## Documented Actions

### 1. 2020 Election Lawsuit Challenging Mail-In Voting Expansion (July 2020)

Evidence: On July 1, 2020, Paige filed an election complaint with the Vermont Secretary of State challenging recently enacted legislation (Act 135) that expanded mail-in voting during the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislation proposed mailing ballots to all registered voters. On July 31, 2020, he escalated by filing a superior court complaint seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to block these mail-in voting provisions.

Paige argued that expanded ballot access failed to require “important safeguards” and that the process would be “ripe for error, mistake and/or fraud.” The Vermont Supreme Court ultimately dismissed his appeal as moot in April 2021, after the 2020 election had been completed without the fraud or chaos Paige predicted. Vermont’s 2020 election, conducted largely by mail due to the pandemic, proceeded smoothly with no evidence of the widespread problems Paige alleged would occur.

Sources: Vermont Supreme Court, H. Brooke Paige v. State of Vermont & Secretary of State James Condos, 2020-280 (April 2021); Vermont Superior Court filings

Pattern: Preemptive litigation to restrict voting access; unfounded fraud predictions

### 2. 2022 Election Lawsuit and Surveillance Demands (July-October 2022)

Evidence: In July 2022, while simultaneously running for secretary of state, Paige filed another administrative election complaint challenging Vermont’s 2022 election processes. He claimed that the state’s continued expansion of ballot access and collection lacked adequate “safeguards” and sought injunctive relief including measures to regulate ballot collection and implement surveillance of ballot drop boxes.

His complaint demanded that Vermont install monitoring equipment at ballot drop box locations and restrict who could deposit ballots, despite no evidence of ballot drop box fraud in Vermont’s history. The Vermont Superior Court granted the state’s motion to dismiss this case in October 2022, finding Paige had not exhausted administrative remedies before filing suit. Notably, Paige was simultaneously campaigning for the very office (secretary of state) that he was suing for allegedly mismanaging elections.

Sources: Vermont Superior Court, unpublished opinion (October 2022); Vermont Judiciary documents

Pattern: Candidate suing election system he sought to control; surveillance demands targeting voting access

### 3. Obama “Birther” Lawsuit (2012)

Evidence: Paige has a history of election-related litigation extending beyond recent cycles. In 2012, he filed a lawsuit challenging Barack Obama’s eligibility to serve as president based on citizenship claims—the “birther” conspiracy theory that had been thoroughly debunked. This earlier litigation demonstrates that Paige’s election-related legal activism predates the Trump era and reflects a longstanding pattern of using the courts to challenge election processes and results he opposes.

The birther lawsuit, like his later Vermont election challenges, was dismissed. However, it established Paige’s profile as someone willing to litigate even thoroughly debunked conspiracy theories if they aligned with his political opposition to Democratic candidates.

Sources: Wikipedia: H. Brooke Paige; court records

Pattern: Long history of conspiracy-based election litigation; frivolous legal challenges