Election administration in Vermont
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| Election Information |
|---|
| Voter registration |
| Early voting |
| Absentee/mail-in voting |
| All-mail voting |
| Voter ID laws |
| State poll opening and closing times |
| Time off work for voting |
| Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker |
| The Ballot Bulletin |
| State of Election Administration Legislation Reports |
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Election administration encompasses a state's voting policies, procedures, and enforcement. These include voter identification requirements, early and absentee/mail-in voting provisions, voter list maintenance methods, and more. Each state's voting policies dictate who can vote and under what conditions.
Below, you will find details on the following election administration topics in Vermont:
Poll times
- See also: State poll opening and closing times
In Vermont, all polls must open by 10 a.m. All polls close at 7 p.m. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.[2]
Voter registration
- Check your voter registration status here.
A United States citizen and state resident who is at least 18 years of age may register to vote in Vermont. The registrant must take the "Voter's Oath," which is included on the voter registration form.[3][4]
According to the secretary of state's website, "Beginning January 1, 2017, eligible persons may register to vote on any day up to and including the day of the election. Registration is available during all normal business hours of your town or city clerk's office on days preceding the election and during polling hours on Election Day. "[3]
Automatic registration
Vermont automatically registers eligible individuals to vote through the Department of Motor Vehicles.[4]
Online registration
- See also: Online voter registration
Vermont has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.
Same-day registration
Vermont allows same-day voter registration.[3]
Residency requirements
To register to vote in Vermont, you must be a resident of the state. State law does not specify a length of time for which you must have been a resident to be eligible.[3]
Verification of citizenship
Vermont does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual applying to register to vote must attest that they are a U.S. citizen under penalty of perjury.
As of November 2024, Burlington, Vermont had authorized noncitizen residents to vote in local board elections. Noncitizens must register to vote using a separate application from the state voter registration application.[5]
All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment.[6] As of January 2025, six states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, and New Hampshire — had passed laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration. However, only two of those states' laws were in effect, in Arizona and New Hampshire. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allowed noncitizens to vote in some local elections as of November 2024. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters.
Verifying your registration
The My Voter Page, run by the Vermont Secretary of State office, allows residents to check their voter registration status online.
Early and absentee/mail-in voting policy
Early voting
- See also: Early voting
Vermont permits early voting. Learn more by visiting this website.
Early voting permits citizens to cast ballots in person at a polling place prior to an election. In states that permit no-excuse early voting, a voter does not have to provide an excuse for being unable to vote on Election Day. States that allow voters to cast no-excuse absentee/mail-in ballots in person are counted as no-excuse early voting states.
As of February 2024, 47 states and the District of Columbia permitted no-excuse early voting.
Absentee/mail-in voting
- See also: Absentee/mail-in voting
Vermont is an all-mail voting state. All voters are eligible to vote absentee/by mail in Vermont. There are no special eligibility requirements for voting absentee/by mail.[7]
In general elections, the office of the secretary of state delivers mail-in ballots automatically to all active voters. To vote absentee/by mail, an application must be received by the town clerk by 5 p.m. on the day before the election. A completed absentee ballot must be returned to the town clerk before the close of business on the day before the election or to the polling place before 7 p.m. on Election Day.[7][8]
Returning absentee/mail-in ballots
A completed absentee ballot must be returned to the town clerk before the close of business on the day before the election or to the polling place before 7 p.m. on Election Day. The ballot must be sealed inside the provided return envelope. Voters can authorize anyone to return their ballot for them.[7] As of November 2024, 20 states allowed anyone chosen by the voter to return a ballot on the voter's behalf, with certain exceptions, while 16 states allowed anyone with certain relationships to the voter to return the voter's ballot. Four states allowed only the voter to return the voter's ballot, with certain exceptions, and two states required voters to return their ballots by mail. Eight states and D.C. did not specify who may return ballots.
Signature requirements and cure provisions
Absentee ballots in Vermont include a return envelope with a certificate on the outside that must be signed by the voter. If the certificate is not signed or is found to be insufficient, the ballot will not be counted.
Vermont law includes a cure provision, or a law allowing voters to correct an issue with the signature on their absentee/mail-in ballot. Election officials are required by law to notify the voter about issues with their ballot within three days of a clerk receiving a ballot. If a ballot is rejected within five business days of the election, election officials must attempt to contact the voter using any contact information available through the voter checklist. Election officials must include instructions to correct the issue when they notify or contact a voter. Voters have until the close of polls on the Election Day the election to correct the issue and have their ballot counted.[9][10]
As of November 2024, 33 states had laws that included cure provisions, while 17 states did not. One state, Pennsylvania, allowed counties to establish a cure process.
Was your absentee/mail-in ballot counted?
Voters can use the online My Voter Page tool provided by the Vermont Secretary of State to check the status of their absentee ballot or application.
Voter identification requirements
- See also: Voter ID in Vermont
- See also: Voter identification laws by state
Vermont does not require voters to present identification while voting in most cases. However, first-time voters who registered by mail are required to present identification at the polls.[11]
The following list of accepted ID was current as of April 2023. Click here for the Vermont Secretary of State's page on accepted ID to ensure you have the most current information.
- Valid photo ID (driver’s license or passport)
- Current utility bill
- Current bank statement
- Another government document containing your residential address
As of April 2024, 35 states required voters to present identification in order to vote at the polls on Election Day. Of these states, 24 required voters to present identification containing a photograph, and 11 accepted other forms of identification. The remaining 16 states did not require voters to present identification in order to vote at the polls on Election Day.
Valid forms of identification differ by state. In certain states that require voters to provide identification, there may be exceptions that allow some voters to cast a ballot without providing an ID. To see more about these exceptions, see details by state. Commonly accepted forms of ID include driver's licenses, state-issued identification cards, and military identification cards.
Provisional ballot rules
According to the secretary of state's website, "Use of provisional ballots in Vermont is very rare. ... It is only used if a person demanding to vote at the polling place is not on the checklist and the voter cannot affirm they registered to vote by the deadline."[12]
Was your provisional ballot counted?
A provisional ballot is counted if the clerk determines that the voter is a United States citizen, resident of Vermont, has taken the voter's oath, and is at least 18 years old.[13]
Local election officials
Do you need information about elections in your area? Are you looking for your local election official? Click here to visit the U.S. Vote Foundation and use their election official lookup tool. |
Primary election type
- See also: Primary elections in Vermont
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Vermont utilizes an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.[14][15]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
Time off work for voting
Ballotpedia did not find a law specifying whether voters must be given time off from work to vote in this state. Nolo.com notes that states without such state laws may have administrative regulations or local ordinances pertaining to time off for voting and suggests calling your local board of elections or state labor department for more information.[16]
If you know of a relevant policy in this state, please email us.
As of September 2024, 28 states required employers to grant employees time off to vote. Within these 28 states, policies varied as to whether that time off must be paid and how much notice must be given.
Voting rules for people convicted of a felony
In Vermont, people convicted of a felony do not lose their franchise and may register to vote in the town or city in which they lived before their incarceration if incarceration is a part of their sentence.[17]
Voting rights for people convicted of a felony vary from state to state. In the majority of states, people convicted of a felony cannot vote while they are incarcerated but may regain the right to vote upon release from prison or at some point thereafter.[14]
Voter list maintenance
All states have rules under which they maintain voter rolls—or, check and remove certain names from their lists of registered voters. Most states are subject to the parameters set by The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).[18] The NVRA requires states to make efforts to remove deceased individuals and individuals who have become ineligible due to a change of address. It prohibits removing registrants from voter lists within 90 days of a federal election due to change of address unless a registrant has requested to be removed, or from removing people from voter lists solely because they have not voted. The NVRA says that states may remove names from their registration lists under certain other circumstances and that their methods for removing names must be uniform and nondiscriminatory.[19]
When names can be removed from the voter list
Vermont law authorizes election officials to remove the names of voters from the registered voting list if an individual:[20]
- confirms in writing that they moved outside of their voting jurisdiction
- is determined to have moved outside of their voting jurisdiction
- requests in writing to be removed
- dies
- does not respond to a confirmation notice, vote, or update their registration status through two consecutive general elections.
Inactive voter list rules
Vermont law requires election officials to review and update voter registration lists in odd-numbered years. If election officials determine that a voter may no longer be eligible to vote in their jurisdiction, they are to send the voter a notice and a request to update their status. If the voter fails to respond to the notice, they are to be listed as inactive. If the voter remains in inactive status through the next two general elections, their registration is to be canceled.[21]
The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC)
According to its website, ERIC is a nonprofit corporation that is governed by a board of member-states. These member states submit voter registration and motor vehicle registration information to ERIC. ERIC uses this information, as well as Social Security death records and other sources, to provide member states with reports showing voters who have moved within their state, moved out of their state, died, have duplicate registrations in their state, or are potentially eligible to vote but are not yet registered. ERIC's website describes its funding as follows: "Members fund ERIC. New members pay a one-time membership fee of $25,000, which is reserved for technology upgrades and other unanticipated expenses. Members also pay annual dues. Annual dues cover operating costs and are based, in part, on the citizen voting age population in each state."[22]
By 2022, 33 states and the District of Columbia had joined ERIC. As of May 2024, 24 states and the District of Columbia were members in the ERIC program.[23]
As of August 2023, Vermont was participating in the ERIC program.
Post-election auditing
Vermont state law requires post-election audits. The secretary of state determines the exact procedures for conducting the audit. Both electronic and hand count auditing is part of the process. The audit must be completed within 30 days of the election.[24]
Post-election audits check that election results tallied by a state's voting system match results from paper records, such as paper ballots filled out by voters or the paper records produced by electronic voting machines. Post-election audits are classified into two categories: audits of election results—which include traditional post-election audits as well as risk-limiting audits—and procedural audits.[25][26]
Typically, traditional post-election audits are done by recounting a portion of ballots, either electronically or by hand, and comparing the results to those produced by the state's voting system. In contrast, risk-limiting audits use statistical methods to compare a random sample of votes cast to election results instead of reviewing every ballot. The scope of procedural audits varies by state, but they typically include a systematic review of voting equipment, performance of the voting system, vote totals, duties of election officials and workers, ballot chain of custody, and more.
As of October 2024, 49 states and the District of Columbia had some form of post-election audit by law. Of these, 35 states and the District of Columbia required traditional post-election audits, while six states required risk-limiting post-election audits by law. Eight states used some other form of post-election audit, including procedural post-election audits.[27][28]
Noteworthy events
Law required state to mail ballots to all active voters (2021)
On June 7, 2021, Governor Phil Scott (R) signed SB15 into law, enacting a series of changes to the state's election administration laws, including (but not limited to) the following:[8]
- Requiring the secretary of state to deliver mail-in ballots to all active voters in every general election.
- Authorizing the use of secure ballot drop boxes for the return of voted mail-in ballots.
- Authorizing the use of outdoor polling places.
- Authorizing the use of drive-up/drive-through voting (defined as procedures that "enable voters to complete the voting process without leaving their vehicle").
Upon signing the bill into law, Scott said, "I’m signing this bill because I believe making sure voting is easy and accessible, and increasing voter participation, is important. Having said that, we should not limit this expansion of access to general elections alone, which already have the highest voter turnout. For greater consistency and to expand access further, I am asking the General Assembly to extend the provisions of this bill to primary elections, local elections and school budget votes when they return to session in January."[29]
Enactment of SB15 made Vermont the sixth state to establish a program whereby election authorities sent mail-in ballots automatically to all active voters in select elections.[30]
Election policy ballot measures
Ballotpedia has tracked the following ballot measures relating to election and campaign policy in Vermont.
- Vermont End the Residency Requirement to Vote Amendment (1974)
- Vermont Manner of Electing the Vermont Secretary of State (1883)
- Vermont Direct Primary Act (1916)
- Vermont Primary Elections Act (1914)
- Vermont Voting Age Amendment, Proposal 5 (2010)
- Vermont Statewide Referendum: Primary Elections Question 1 (1914)
- Vermont Statewide Referendum: Primary Elections Question 2 (1914)
- Vermont Statewide Referendum: The Direct Primary (1916)
The table below lists bills related to election administration that have been introduced during (or carried over to) the current legislative session in Vermont. The following information is included for each bill:
- State
- Bill number
- Official bill name or caption
- Most recent action date
- Legislative status
- Sponsor party
- Topics dealt with by the bill
Bills are organized by most recent action. The table displays up to 100 results. To view more bills, use the arrows in the upper-right corner. Clicking on a bill will open its page on Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which includes bill details and a summary.
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
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The Ballot Bulletin
The Ballot Bulletin is a weekly email that delivers the latest updates on election policy. The Ballot Bulletin tracks developments in election policy around the country, including legislative activity, big-picture trends, and recent news. Each email contains in-depth data from our Election Administration Legislation Tracker. You'll also be able to track relevant legislation, with links to and summaries of the bills themselves.
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Ballot access
A cardboard ballot box at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History
In order to get on the ballot in Vermont, a candidate for state or federal office must meet a variety of state-specific filing requirements and deadlines. These regulations, known as ballot access laws, determine whether a candidate or party will appear on an election ballot. These laws are set at the state level. A candidate must prepare to meet ballot access requirements well in advance of primaries, caucuses, and the general election.
There are three basic methods by which an individual may become a candidate for office in a state.
- An individual can seek the nomination of a state-recognized political party.
- An individual can run as an independent. Independent candidates often must petition in order to have their names printed on the general election ballot.
- An individual can run as a write-in candidate.
This article outlines the steps that prospective candidates for state-level and congressional office must take in order to run for office in Vermont. For information about filing requirements for presidential candidates, click here. Information about filing requirements for local-level offices is not available in this article (contact state election agencies for information about local candidate filing processes).
Redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Vermont
Redistricting is the process by which new congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn. Vermont's one United States Representative and 180 state legislators are elected from political divisions called districts. United States Senators are not elected by districts, but by the states at large. District lines are redrawn every 10 years following completion of the United States census. The federal government stipulates that districts must have nearly equal populations and must not discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity.[31][32][33][34]
Vermont was apportioned one seat in the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2020 census, the same number it received after the 2010 census. Click here for more information about redistricting in Vermont after the 2020 census.
HIGHLIGHTS
State process
- See also: State-by-state redistricting procedures
Because Vermont has only one congressional district, congressional redistricting is not necessary. The state legislature draws state legislative district lines with the assistance of an advisory commission. This advisory commission consists of the following members:[35]
- The governor appoints one member each from the state's political parties. To qualify for consideration in this context, a political party must have had "at least three state legislators for six of the previous 10 years."
- The chairs of the aforementioned political parties each appoint an additional member.
- The chief justice of the Vermont Supreme Court appoints the commission's chair.
Commissioners cannot be legislators, nor can they be employed by the legislature. The commission may make recommendations to the legislature, but these recommendations are non-binding.[35]
State law requires that state legislative districts be contiguous and compact and that they "adhere to county and other political subdivision boundaries, except where necessary to comply with other legal requirements." In addition, state statutes specify that districts should account for "patterns of geography, social interaction, trade, political ties, and common interests."[35]
Election administration agencies
Election agencies
Seal of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission
- See also: State election agencies
Individuals seeking additional information about voting provisions in Vermont can contact the following local, state, and federal agencies.
Vermont Town Clerks
Vermont Secretary of State, Elections Division
- 128 State Street
- Montpelier, Vermont 05633-1101
- Phone: 802-828-2363
- Email: https://sos.vermont.gov/elections/about/contact/
- Website: https://sos.vermont.gov/elections/
U.S. Election Assistance Commission
- 633 3rd Street NW, Suite 200
- Washington, DC 20001
- Phone: 301-563-3919
- Toll free: 1-866-747-1471
- Email: clearinghouse@eac.gov
- Website: https://www.eac.gov
Ballotpedia's election coverage
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See also
- State of Election Administration Legislation Reports
- Voting in Vermont
- Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Vermont
- Redistricting in Vermont
Elections in Vermont
- Vermont elections, 2025
- Vermont elections, 2024
- Vermont elections, 2023
- Vermont elections, 2022
- Vermont elections, 2021
- Vermont elections, 2020
- Vermont elections, 2019
- Vermont elections, 2018
- Vermont elections, 2017
- Vermont elections, 2016
- Vermont elections, 2015
- Vermont elections, 2014
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ We use the term "absentee/mail-in voting" to describe systems in which requests or applications are required. We use the term "all-mail voting" to denote systems where the ballots themselves are sent automatically to all voters. We use the hyphenate term for absentee voting because some states use “mail voting” (or a similar alternative) to describe what has traditionally been called "absentee voting."
- ↑ Vermont State Legislature, “17 V.S.A. § 2561,” accessed April 20, 2023
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Vermont Secretary of State, "Voter Registration," accessed April 20, 2023
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Vermont Secretary of State, "Frequently Asked Questions," accessed April 20, 2023
- ↑ City of Burlington, Vermont, "City of Burlington All Legal Resident Voter Registration Form," accessed November 14, 2024
- ↑ Under federal law, the national mail voter registration application (a version of which is in use in all states with voter registration systems) requires applicants to indicate that they are U.S. citizens in order to complete an application to vote in state or federal elections, but does not require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the application "may require only the minimum amount of information necessary to prevent duplicate voter registrations and permit State officials both to determine the eligibility of the applicant to vote and to administer the voting process."
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Vermont Secretary of State, "Absentee Voting," accessed April 20, 2023
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Vermont General Assembly, "S.15," accessed April 20, 2023 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "vermontsb15" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Vermont Secretary of State, “Early & Absentee Voting,” accessed October 4, 2024
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, “States With Signature Cure Processes,” accessed October 4, 2024
- ↑ Vermont Secretary of State, "Election Day FAQs," accessed April 20, 2023
- ↑ Vermont Secretary of State, "Election Day FAQs," accessed April 20, 2023
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Provisional Ballots," accessed November 4, 2022
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 NCSL,"State Primary Election Types," accessed October 4, 2024 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "ncsl" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Vermont Secretary of State,"Party Organization," accessed October 4, 2024
- ↑ NOLO, "Taking Time Off to Vote," accessed July 22, 2024
- ↑ Vermont Secretary of State, "Voter Registration Frequently Asked Questions," accessed April 20, 2023
- ↑ As of May 2024, the Justice Department notes, "Six States (Idaho, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming) are exempt from the NVRA because, on and after August 1, 1994, they either had no voter-registration requirements or had election-day voter registration at polling places with respect to elections for federal office."
- ↑ The United States Department of Justice, "The National Voter Registration Act of 1993," accessed May 29, 2024
- ↑ Vermont Statutes, "17.2150," accessed April 20, 2023
- ↑ Vermont Statutes, "17.043 and 17.2150," accessed April 20, 2023
- ↑ ERIC, "FAQ," accessed May 29, 2024
- ↑ ERIC, "Who We Are," accessed May 29, 2024
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Post-Election Audits," accessed July 31, 2024
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Post-Election Audits," accessed July 23, 2024
- ↑ Election Assistance Commission, "Election Audits Across the United States," accessed August 22, 2024
- ↑ Ballotpedia research conducted in October 2024, researching and analyzing various state websites and codes.
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Post-Election Audits," accessed October 4, 2024
- ↑ Office of the Governor of Vermont, "ACTION TAKEN BY GOVERNOR PHIL SCOTT ON LEGISLATION - JUNE 7, 2021," June 7, 2021
- ↑ The Hill, "Vermont governor signs mail-in voting bill," June 8, 2021
- ↑ All About Redistricting, "Why does it matter?" accessed April 8, 2015
- ↑ Indy Week, "Cracked, stacked and packed: Initial redistricting maps met with skepticism and dismay," June 29, 2011
- ↑ The Atlantic, "How the Voting Rights Act Hurts Democrats and Minorities," June 17, 2013
- ↑ Redrawing the Lines, "The Role of Section 2 - Majority Minority Districts," accessed April 6, 2015
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 All About Redistricting, "Vermont," accessed April 22, 2015
