Voting In Vermont

To be eligible to vote in Vermont you must be… Click to learn more

To be eligible to vote in Vermont you must be:

• A U.S. citizen
• A resident of Vermont
• A person who has taken the Voter's Oath (formerly called the Freeman's Oath)
• 18 years of age or older on or before Election Day

Voter registration forms are called applications for addition to the checklist… Click to learn more

Voter registration forms are called applications for addition to the checklist. To register, complete the application online or request one from your local town clerk.

You must include your Vermont driver's license number on the form. If you do not have a Vermont driver's license number or if your license is suspended, include the last 4 digits of your Social Security number.

If you have never voted in Vermont before, you will need to take the voter's oath in front of a person authorized to administer oaths. (This can include a local notary, town clerk, justice of the peace or any other person authorized to administer oaths in Vermont.) You will need to have the application signed stating you have taken the voter's oath. If you do not take oaths, you may take it as an affirmation. If the filing deadline is close, you can file your application without taking the oath, and take the oath at the polling place on Election Day. However, if you intend to request an early or absentee ballot, you must take the oath before voting by early or absentee ballot. If you have previously voted in Vermont, you do not need to take the voter's oath again.

Once completed, submit the form to your local town clerk. You will also have the opportunity to register to vote when you register your car, get a driver's license or renew your registration or license.

First-time voters that registered by mail and did not provide verification are required to show identification at the polls.

The last day to register to vote for the General Election is the Wednesday before Election Day by 5:00pm.… Click to learn more

Once you are registered to vote you do not need to reregister unless you move to a new town. In order to be eligible to vote in a particular election, your application for addition to the checklist must be received by 5:00pm the Wednesday before the day of the election. The town and city clerks' offices must be open at least from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm on this Monday. If you apply through the department of motor vehicles (DMV) or another voter registration agency, your application must be postmarked or accepted before the second Monday before the election.

To verify your voter registration status, please contact your local town clerk's office. You can also locate your local town clerk by calling 1-800-439-VOTE.

If you are sick or disabled, a ballot can be delivered to your home on Election Day… Click to learn more

If you are sick or disabled, a ballot can be delivered to your home on Election Day. You must make your request at least three days before the election. On Election Day, two justices of the peace (of different parties) will deliver a ballot to you, and then will bring the ballot back to the polling place so that it can be placed in the ballot box and counted.

You can also request that the town clerk mail you an early voter absentee ballot. This ballot will arrive with a return envelope so that the ballot, once voted, can be returned to the clerk to be counted on Election Day. The clerk must receive the ballot by the close of polls on Election Day in order to be counted. A ballot can be requested any time before an election. Clerks will mail absentee ballots within the 30 days prior to the election. You may pick up a ballot at the town clerk's office at any time beginning thirty days prior to the general or primary election.

A early voted absentee ballot in a sealed envelope, can be hand delivered to the clerk on Election Day or prior to Election Day. The ballot can be returned to the clerk or delivered to the polling place by you or any person you authorize to return the ballot. You can only pick up your own ballot from the clerk's office. Early voter absentee ballots must be returned to the town clerk's office before the close of the office on the day before the election or to the polling place before 7:00 pm on the day of the election in order to be counted.

You, or an authorized person, including a candidate or campaign workers, a family member or a health care provider acting on your behalf, may apply for an early voter absentee ballot for you. Requests submitted on your behalf by an unrelated authorized person (except health care workers) must be made in writing or in person. All other requests can be made by telephone, in person, or in writing. (Family member in this context means your spouse, children, brothers, sisters, parents, spouse's parents, grandparents, and spouse's grandparents.) Requests for an early voter absentee ballot can be made at any time until 5:00 pm or the closing of the town clerk's office on the day before the election. The request can be made at the same time you register to vote, so long as the voter registration application and absentee ballot request are submitted by 12:00 pm on the second Monday before the election.

All early voter absentee ballot requests must be submitted by 5:00 pm or the close of the town clerk's office on the day before the election. A request for an early voter absentee ballot is good for only one election, except that you can make one request to cover both the primary election and the general election, so long as both ballots are to be mailed to the same address.

The town clerk must mail a complete set of early voter absentee ballots to voters who have requested ballots. The ballots must be mailed as soon as possible after an application for a ballot has been filed with the clerk, and the clerk has received the ballots from the printer. Early voter absentee ballots that are sent to voters who are outside of the country must be sent airmail, first class, postpaid, when such service is available.

When a voter goes to the town clerk's office to vote early the voter is given the absentee ballots and envelopes and is provided a private place to mark the ballots. The voter must then seal the ballots in the envelope, sign the certificate, and return the ballots in the sealed envelope to the town clerk or an assistant town clerk. No person, except justices of the peace, may take any ballot from the town clerk on behalf of any other person.

Early or absentee voter ballots must be returned to the clerk's office before the close of business on the day before the election (be sure to check your town clerk's hours) or to the polling place by 7:00 pm on Election Day. The ballots may be returned by mail or in person, unless the ballots were delivered by justices of the peace who would then return them to the town clerk. The town clerk must record receipt of the voted ballot(s) on the list of early or absentee voters. Once an early voter absentee ballot has been returned to the clerk in the sealed envelope with the signed certificate, it shall be stored in a secure place and shall not be returned to the voter for any reason. During the hours that the polls are open, the town clerk delivers the envelopes to the presiding officer in the polling place where the early or absentee voter would have voted if that person had voted in person.

On Election Day, election officials examine the checklist to see whether the voter has already voted in person. The election officials also check the certificate on the envelope containing the ballots to make sure it is properly filled out. When the election officials are satisfied that the early or absentee voter is legally qualified to vote, has not already voted in person and that the certificate is properly filled out, they open the envelope containing the ballot(s). Without unfolding the entrance checklist indicating the fact that that voter has voted by means of an early voter absentee ballot, they deposit the ballots in the ballot boxes or voting machine. Early voter absentee ballots are commingled with the ballots of voters who have voted in person. When an early or absentee voter is not legally qualified to vote, or has voted in person, or if the affidavit on any envelope is insufficient, the certificate is not signed, or the voted ballot is not in the voted ballot envelope, or, in the case of a primary vote, the early or absentee voter has failed to return the unvoted portions of the primary ballots, the envelope must be marked defective, the ballots inside may not be counted.

Early voting is also available in Vermont with no excuse required. You may vote at your town clerk's office in person any time thirty days before a primary or general election or twenty days before a municipal election.

The next primary election will be held on Tuesday, September 14, 2010. Please check with your local board of elections office for information on local elections.

In order to be a poll worker in Vermont… Click to learn more

In order to be a poll worker in Vermont:

• You must be registered to vote in Vermont
• You will be entitled to compensation
• You must be at least 18 years of age
• Political affiliation considered
• You must be a resident of the voting district
• You must complete required training
• Students who are 16 and 17 years old may be appointed as assistant elections officers

To sign up, contact your local board of elections.

All polls are open from 10am to 7pm. Most polls open earlier.

Time off to vote is subject to the employer. Vermont state law does not require employers to grant time off to vote for employees.

You can find your polling place by utilizing VOTE411's poll locator tool. Some states and local jurisdictions provide their own poll locators. You can confirm your voting location by selecting from the following local resources:… Click to learn more

You can find your polling place by utilizing VOTE411's poll locator tool. Some states and local jurisdictions provide their own poll locators. You can confirm your voting location by selecting from the following local resources: Vermont.

If you have further questions on your polling place location, please contact your county clerk.

Provisional ballots are eligible if they are cast in the correct jurisdiction.

The voting systems used in Vermont are optical scan, paper ballots and vote by phone… Click to learn more

The voting systems used in Vermont are optical scan, paper ballots and vote by phone.

Optical Scan: With this system, you will receive a card or sheet of paper, which you take over to a private table or booth. The card has the names of the various candidates and ballot measures printed on it. With a pen or pencil you fill in a little box or circle or the space between two arrows. When you are finished filling out all the cards, you may bring the cards over to a ballot box, where poll workers will show you how to put the cards in the box. Or in some places, you may feed the completed cards or papers into a computer device that checks your card or paper right there at the polling place to make sure you have voted the way you want to and counts the votes.

Paper Ballots: Paper ballots are one of the oldest ways of voting in America. They are still used in a few places on Election Day. When you come to the polling place, you will get a paper ballot from the poll worker. You take it to the voting booth, and use a pen or pencil to mark a box next to your candidate and issue choices. You then drop the marked ballot into a sealed ballot box.

Vote by Phone: The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) required states to implement voting systems that are accessible for individuals with disabilities and permit voters who are blind or visually-impaired to cast their votes privately and independently. The vote-by-phone system purchased by the State of Vermont is designed to meet this mandate. When you go to your polling place and check in at the entrance checklist, indicate that you wish to use the vote-by-phone system. A poll worker uses a designated telephone to call the system, enters the poll worker and ballot access IDs to bring up the appropriate ballot, then gives the phone to you and leaves the voting booth. The system reads the ballot to you and, after you makes ballot selections using the telephone key pad, the system prints out a paper ballot at the office of the secretary of state. The paper ballot is automatically scanned and can be played back to you for verification upon your request. You may decide to cast it or discard it and revote.

The vote by phone system permits you to practice voting on the system prior to Election Day. You will be able to use any touchtone telephone to call into the system and practice voting to familiarize yourself with the contests and candidates on your ballot. To try out the system and practice voting your ballot, call your local county clerk to get the ballot access 3 digit # for your voting district. Then call (866) 486-3838 to listen and practice voting on the same ballot that you will hear and vote on Election Day. You can call in and practice as many times as you want.

All phone calls are answered by a computer system located at a secure location controlled by authorized election officials. The computer will only permit access to the system from phone numbers that have been entered into the system prior to the election, and only after the proper poll worker and ballot access ID numbers have been entered. The vote-by-phone system will be pre-tested before every election to ensure accurate programming. The system makes no use of the Internet or any other data network, so the system cannot be “hacked.” The only system input comes from DTMF tones, the distinct sounds generated by the telephone when its buttons are pressed. The vote-by-phone system produces a voter-verified paper ballot for every vote cast and the process can be monitored by observers.

Information on local, state and federal candidates and ballot measures is available here.

Polling places must allow all voters to conveniently and privately cast their votes… Click to learn more

Polling places must allow all voters to conveniently and privately cast their votes. This means that polling places should be accessible to all voters, including people with physical and mental disabilities, as well as the elderly. All polling places in Vermont should be physically accessible. If you find a polling place that is not, you should notify the secretary of state's office, who will work with the town to ensure that steps are taken to make it accessible. If you have a unique accessibility need, you should give the town reasonable advance notice so that the town can take steps to accommodate your needs.

If you are sick or disabled, you can ask that election officials bring a ballot to your car, as long as the car is next to the polling place. Two election officials will bring the ballot to the car and assist you if you request it, and then they will return to the polling place and place the completed ballot in the ballot box or optical scan machine. All voters have the right to have someone assist them in voting and voters may bring in devices, such as a magnifying glass to help them vote.

If you require assistance and have brought someone with you to help, simply tell the election officials that you have someone to help you with the voting process. The person providing assistance can be anyone of your choosing, as long as the person helping is not your employer or union representative. You should not have to reveal that you have a disability or why you may need assistance. The person helping can do such things as read the ballot to you, help fill out the paper ballots or use the voting machine.

If you need assistance and did not bring someone to the polls to help, two election officials will provide whatever assistance is needed. When you check in to vote, simply tell the election workers that you need assistance. With no questions asked, you must be provided that assistance.

If you spoil a ballot (mark the ballot improperly), or decide to change how you voted before putting the ballot in the ballot box or optical scan machine, you may ask for a new ballot. Every person is allowed to ask for a new ballot, up to three times, but can only cast one vote. If you vote for more than the number of candidates allowed in a particular race, the optical scan machine will reject the ballot to give you the chance to correct the ballot so your votes will count. In towns that count by hand, there will be reminders by the ballot box asking you to check your ballot to correct any overvotes. You can ask for help in putting your ballots into the ballot box or optical scan machine.

The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) required states to implement voting systems that are accessible for individuals with disabilities and permit voters who are blind or visually-impaired to cast their votes privately and independently. The vote-by-phone system purchased by the State of Vermont is designed to meet this mandate. When you go to your polling place and check in at the entrance checklist, indicate that you wish to use the vote-by-phone system. A poll worker uses a designated telephone to call the system, enters the poll worker and ballot access IDs to bring up the appropriate ballot, then gives the phone to you and leaves the voting booth. The system reads the ballot to you and, after you makes ballot selections using the telephone key pad, the system prints out a paper ballot at the office of the secretary of state. The paper ballot is automatically scanned and can be played back to you for verification upon your request. You may decide to cast it or discard it and revote.

You can also vote by phone (at the polls) at every polling place has a telephone voting system available for voters who wish to use it in the primary or general election. The Vote-by-Phone (at the polls) system was created to enable voters with disabilities to vote privately and independently. When you vote-by-phone you listen to the choices using the handset or a headset, and then you mark your ballot by pressing a telephone key pad. The system reads back the paper ballot for you before it is cast so you can be sure that it marked your choices correctly. Find out more information about the

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