On April 24, 2019 PolitiFact published a fact check of a claim by Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. The fact check ignored a false statement from Sanders and in its conclusion falsely claimed it true that the Vermont Constitution only places one restriction on voters (being of “quiet and peaceable behavior”).
Zebra Fact Check sent an email message to PolitiFact asking it to correct that mistake and others.
Our message to PolitiFact follows, in .pdf format.
Dear Truth-O-Meter,
An April 24, 2019 PolitiFact Vermont fact check of a statement by Bernie Sanders went awry.
The fact check glaringly ignores Sanders' false statement that the original Vermont Constitution allowed everybody to vote. Women were not allowed to vote, and Vermont also had age restrictions (to name the two most obvious contradictions to Sanders' claim).
The fact check later supports its conclusion ("True") with a false claim:
The Vermont Constitution requires people to be of "quiet and peaceable behavior," but otherwise places no restrictions on who can vote.
The modern version of Vermont's constitution linked in the sidebar of the fact check (falsely labeled as its 1793 constitution) contradicts that claim with restrictions based on age, citizenship and more.
Perhaps a rewrite of the fact check could resolve these problems.