Title 17, Elections

§ 2014. Unqualified person voting A person, knowing that he or she is not a qualified voter, who votes at a local, primary, or general election for an officer to be elected at that election shall be fined not more than $200.00. (Amended 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)

§ 2015. Fraudulent voting A person who personates another, living or dead, and gives or offers to give a vote in the name of that other person or gives or offers to give a vote under a fictitious name at a local, primary, or general election for an officer to be elected at that e…

§ 2016. Aiding unqualified voter to vote A person who willfully aids or abets a person who is not a duly qualified voter in voting or attempting to vote at a local, primary, or general election shall be fined not more than $200.00. (Amended 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)

§ 2017. Undue influence A person who attempts by bribery, threats, or any undue influence to dictate, control, or alter the vote of a voter about to be given at a local, primary, or general election shall be fined not more than $200.00. (Amended 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2…

§ 2019. Destroying lists; hindering voting A person who, prior to a local, primary, or general election, willfully defaces or destroys any list of candidates posted in accordance with law or, during that election, willfully defaces, tears down, removes, or destroys any card poste…

§ 2021. Destruction of or fraudulent acts pertaining to primary election documents; alteration or delay of ballots A person who falsely makes or willfully defaces or destroys a primary petition, certificate of nomination, or nomination paper or any part thereof, or any letter of …

§ 2031. Definitions As used in this subchapter: (1) “Deceptive and fraudulent synthetic media” means synthetic media that appears to a reasonable person to be a realistic representation of: (A) a political candidate that injures the reputation of a political candidate; or (B) an …

§ 2032. Disclosure of deceptive and fraudulent synthetic media (a) Disclosure. A person shall not, within 90 days before an election in Vermont, publish, communicate, or otherwise distribute synthetic media that the person knows is deceptive and fraudulent synthetic media unless …

§ 2033. Penalties (a) A person that knowingly and intentionally violates a provision of this subchapter shall be fined not more than $1,000.00, unless: (1) the person commits the violation with the intent to cause violence or bodily harm, in which case the fine shall be not more …

§ 2041. Enforcement In addition to the other remedies provided in this chapter, a State’s Attorney or the Attorney General may institute any appropriate action, injunction, or other proceeding to prevent, restrain, correct, or abate any violation of this chapter. (Added 2025, No.…

§ 2042. Civil investigations (a)(1) The Attorney General or a State’s Attorney, whenever there is reason to believe any person to be or to have been in violation of this chapter, may examine or cause to be examined by any designated agent or representative any books, records, pap…

§ 2045. Vote denial or dilution (a) No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by the State or any municipality in a manner that results in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen of the United Sta…

§ 2046. Civil actions by attorney general (a) Whenever the Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe that a violation of this subchapter has occurred and that the rights of any voter or group of voters have been affected by such violation, the Attorney General may initiate…

§ 2101. Purposes This title is intended to carry out the mandate contained in Article 8 of Chapter I of the Constitution of the State of Vermont. In this pursuit, the specific purposes of this title are: (1) to provide equal opportunity for all citizens of voting age to participa…

§ 2102. Short title This title may be referred to and cited as the “Vermont Election Laws.” (Added 1977, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1979, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)

§ 2103. Definitions As used in this title, unless the context or a specific definition requires a different reading: (1) “Early or absentee voter” means any voter of the State who has requested an early voter absentee ballot as provided in chapter 51, subchapter 6 of this title. …

§ 2121. Eligibility of voters (a) Any person may register to vote in the town of his or her residence in any election held in a political subdivision of this State in which he or she resides who, on election day: (1) is a citizen of the United States; (2) is a resident of the Sta…

§ 2122. Residence; special cases; checklist (a) A person shall not gain or lose a residence solely by reason of presence or absence while in the service of the State or of the United States; nor while engaged in the navigation of the waters of the State or of the United States or…

§ 2123. Residents of unorganized towns and gores A resident of an unorganized town, grant, or gore may have his or her name placed upon the checklist in any town that is both in the probate district and in the representative district in which he or she resides, and he or she shal…

§ 2124. Voter’s oath or affirmation; how administered; application (a) The voter’s oath may be administered by: (1) a person authorized by the law of this State to administer oaths and affirmations; (2) a member of a board of civil authority; (3) a commissioned officer of the mil…

§ 2125. Intermittent residence A person, having taken the voter’s oath, who moves from Vermont and obtains voting residence outside the State shall not vote in any election in this State until he or she has once again qualified to vote under this title, except that he or she need…

§ 2126. Village checklist A village clerk shall automatically include on the village checklist the names of all persons living within the village who are on the checklist of the town in which the village is located, except as provided in section 2122 of this title. No separate ap…

§ 2141. Posting of checklist (a) At least 30 days before any local, primary, or general election, the town clerk shall cause copies of the most recent checklist of the persons registered to vote to be posted in two or more public places in the municipality in addition to being po…

§ 2142. Revision of checklist (a) The town clerk shall call such meetings of the board of civil authority as may be necessary before an election or at other times for revision of the checklist. (b) Notice of a meeting, along with a copy of the most recent checklist and a separate…

§ 2143. Political representation on board of civil authority (a) If the board of civil authority of any political subdivision does not contain at least three members of each major political party and the party committee or at least three voters request increased representation fo…

§ 2144. Submitting applications (a) On any day other than the day of an election, the town clerk shall accept a person’s application for his or her name to be placed on the checklist at the town clerk’s office during all normal business hours. (b) On the day of an election: (1) A…

§ 2144a. Registration A person who desires to register to vote may apply in any of the following ways: (1) Simultaneously with his or her application for, or renewal of, a motor vehicle driver’s license or nondriver identification card as provided in section 2145a of this chapter…

§ 2144b. Additions to checklist by town clerk (a)(1) A town clerk shall review all applications to the voter checklist and shall approve those applications that meet the requirements of this chapter. Once approved, application information shall be added to the statewide voter che…

§ 2145. Application forms (a) The voter registration application shall be in the form approved by the Federal Election Commission or by the Secretary of State. The application form approved by the Secretary shall include: (1) A place for the applicant to swear or affirm, by check…

§ 2145a. Registrations at the Department of Motor Vehicles (a) An application for, or renewal of, a motor vehicle driver’s license or nondriver identification card shall serve as a simultaneous application to register to vote if the applicant attests to U.S. citizenship or the De…

§ 2145b. Voter registration agencies (a) Each voter registration agency shall: (1) distribute voter registration application forms approved under section 2145 of this title; (2) assist applicants in completing voter registration application forms, unless the applicant refuses suc…

§ 2145c. Submission of voter registration forms by other persons or organizations Any person or any organization other than a voter registration agency that accepts a completed voter registration form on behalf of an applicant shall submit that form to the town clerk of the town …

§ 2146. Action of board of civil authority or town clerk in revising checklist (a) At a meeting to revise the checklist, the board of civil authority shall determine whether any person who has applied to be registered to vote meets the requirements of section 2121 of this title. …

§ 2147. Alteration of checklist (a) Pursuant to section 2150 of this title, the board of civil authority or, upon request of the board, the town clerk shall add to the checklist the names of the voters added and the names omitted by mistake and shall strike the names of persons n…

§ 2148. Appeal from board of civil authority (a) Any person whose application to vote has been rejected or whose name has been removed from the checklist may appeal to any Superior judge in the county in which the applicant claims residence. If there is no judge available in the …

§ 2149. Conclusiveness of list (a) A person shall not vote at an election unless his or her name is on the checklist applicable to the municipality, but the checklist may be amended and corrected for such election as provided in this title. The eligibility of a person to vote sha…

§ 2150. Removing names from checklist (a)(1) When a voter from one political subdivision becomes a resident of another political subdivision and is placed on the checklist there, the town clerk shall notify the clerk of the political subdivision where the voter was formerly a res…

§ 2151. Federal district court Within 10 days after the date of a presidential election, the town clerk shall send an unmarked checklist, which was up to date as of election day, to the clerk of the federal district court for the district of Vermont, and shall receive the normal …

§ 2152. Division of checklist A town clerk may divide the checklist into active and inactive sections. The active section shall include all the qualified voters of the town, except for those voters included in the inactive section, pursuant to this provision. The inactive section…

§ 2153. Birthday registration drive The Secretary of State may develop and implement a statewide voter registration program for the purpose of encouraging persons to register to vote on their 18th birthday. (Added 2001, No. 7, § 5, eff. April 10, 2001.)

§ 2154. Statewide voter checklist (a) The Secretary of State shall maintain a uniform and nondiscriminatory statewide voter checklist. This checklist shall serve as the official voter registration list for all elections in the State. In maintaining the statewide voter checklist, …

§ 2301. Organization of major political parties A major political party shall organize biennially as provided in this chapter. A person acting on behalf of a major political party shall not accept any contribution or make any expenditure (except for the purpose of organizing unde…

§ 2302. State chair to call caucus (a) The chair of the State committee of a party shall set a date for members of the party to meet in caucus in their respective towns. The date shall be between September 10 and September 30, inclusive, in each odd-numbered year. (b) At least 14…

§ 2303. Town chair to give notice (a) The town chair or, if unavailable or if the records of the Secretary of State show there is no chair, any three voters of the town shall arrange to hold a caucus on the day designated by the State chair, in some public place within the town a…

§ 2304. Town caucus (a)(1) At the time and place set for the town caucus, the voters of the party residing in the town shall meet in caucus and proceed to elect a town committee, consisting of such number of voters of the town as the caucus deems necessary, to serve during the fo…

§ 2305. First meeting of town committee (a)(1) The first meeting of the town committee shall be held immediately following adjournment of the caucus. (2) At this meeting, members of the town committee shall elect committee officers and delegates to the county committee. (b) All o…