Title 17, Elections

§ 1815. Acceptance of candidacy On accepting the designation each candidate shall file the candidate’s acceptance as follows: “I do hereby accept this appointment as candidate for delegate to the convention to be held on the ............ day of ........................... ; and a…

§ 1816. Form of ballot The form of the ballot to be used shall be as follows: DELEGATES TO CONVENTION TO VOTE UPON THE FOLLOWING PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES: (Here shall follow the text of the proposed amendment.) To vote for all the delegates who …

§ 1817. Endorsement of ballots Upon each ballot shall be endorsed the words “Official Ballot,” followed by the name of the town in which it is to be used, the date of the election, and a facsimile of the signature of the Secretary of State with his or her official title.

§ 1818. Checklist to be used The checklist used in the last preceding general election shall apply, but may be revised as now provided by law for checklists used at general elections. The polls for this election shall open at 10:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m. (Amended 2025, No. 9…

§ 1819. Canvassing board The Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Secretary of State shall canvass the ballots, declaring elected the 14 candidates who have received the greatest number of votes, and the Secretary of State shall publish the re…

§ 1820. General election law to apply; expense of election Expenses of the election shall be paid by the State or town as in the case of general elections. The statutory provisions as to holding general elections, furnishing ballots, instructions and forms, appointment and paymen…

§ 1821. Construction of chapter The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed so that the real will of the voters shall not be defeated and so that the voters shall not be deprived of their right because of informality or failure to comply with provisions of law as …

§ 1822. Filling vacancies In case of vacancies caused by death, disability, or resignation, the Governor shall fill the vacancies by appointment.

§ 1823. Quorum; Secretary A majority of the delegates shall constitute a quorum to do business, when convened according to the provisions of this chapter. The Secretary of State shall be ex officio Secretary of the convention and, with the Chair of the convention, the Secretary s…

§ 1824. Compensation The compensation of each delegate shall be $10.00 and actual expenses.

§ 1825. Effect of congressional prescription of the manner of holding conventions If, on or about the time of submitting any such amendment, Congress, in the resolution submitting the amendment, or by statute, shall prescribe the manner in which the conventions shall be constitut…

§ 1840. Interim publication Within 90 days following adjournment without day of any session of the General Assembly in which articles of amendment to the Constitution have been proposed by the Senate and concurred in by the House, the Secretary of State shall prepare copies of th…

§ 1841. Constitutional requirements (a) Amendments to the Constitution, having been proposed by the General Assembly, published, and concurred in by the succeeding General Assembly as required by § 72 of Chapter II of the Constitution, shall be submitted to the people of the Stat…

§ 1842. Time of voting; warning (a) The people shall be assembled for the purpose of voting on the article of amendment in their respective towns and cities at the same time and place as for the general election, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, in even-nu…

§ 1843. Process of voting; making returns; conduct of meetings (a)(1) At those meetings the voters may vote by ballot for or against the article of amendment. (2) The same officer shall preside in each such meeting as provided in section 2680 of this title. (b) The board of civil…

§ 1844. Publication in newspapers and on State websites; ballots (a)(1) The Secretary of State shall, between September 25 and October 1 in any year in which a vote on ratification of an article of amendment is taken, prepare copies of the proposal of amendment and forward them, …

§ 1845. Qualifications of voters; conduct of election The qualifications of voters on the proposal of amendment, the checklist requirements for the election, and all other provisions relating to the conduct of the election shall be the same as those required at general elections.…

§ 1846. Failure to post checklists The failure of the selectboard of any town, or the proper officers of any city, to prepare and post checklists of the voters of the town or city as provided by section 2141 of this title, shall not invalidate the votes given by the voters of the…

§ 1848. Tabulation of returns; record of amendments The Governor and Secretary of State shall, on the second Tuesday of December, of the year in which a vote on ratification of an article of amendment is taken, open and tabulate the returns made under section 1843 of this chapter…

§ 1849. Proclamation by Governor The Governor shall thereupon forthwith issue his or her proclamation, attested by the Secretary of State, reciting the article of amendment and announcing the ratification and adoption of it by the people of this State under this chapter and that …

§ 1850. Transmission of copies of chapter and forms to clerks (a) The Secretary of State shall send to the clerk of each city and town a copy of this chapter at least two months before the vote on the ratification of an article of amendment. (b) In any year in which a vote on rat…

§ 1881. Number to be elected Senatorial districts and the number of Senators to be elected from each are as follows: (1) Addison Senatorial District, composed of the towns of Addison, Bridport, Bristol, Buel’s Gore, Cornwall, Ferrisburgh, Goshen, Granville, Hancock, Huntington, L…

§ 1881a. Senatorial districts; nominations and election (a) The laws relating to the election of Senators in single counties shall apply in senatorial districts except as their application may be inconsistent with this section or the structure of those districts. (b) In senatoria…

§ 1891. Statement of policy The order of the U.S. District Court for the district of Vermont entered August 3, 1964, modified and affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States, January 12, 1965 (Parsons v. Buckley, 85 S.Ct. 503, 379 U.S. 359 (1965), 13 L.Ed.2d 352), requires…

§ 1891a. Definitions As used in this chapter and in chapter 34A of this title: (1) “Initial district” or “district” means a district created by law in the final plan enacted pursuant to section 1906 of this title and listed in section 1893 of this title. (2) “Representative distr…

§ 1892. House of Representatives membership The House of Representatives shall consist of 150 members, each of whom shall be elected from a district established by law. No person shall be elected a Representative until he or she has resided in this State two years, the last of wh…

§ 1893b. House of Representatives Districts Notwithstanding the processes outlined in chapter 34A of this title regarding the enactment of initial districts and the subdivision of initial districts, for the 2022 reapportionment of the House of Representatives, the State is divide…

§ 1901. Purpose (a) The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires all state legislative bodies to be apportioned in such manner as to achieve substantially equal weighting of the vot…

§ 1902. Definitions As used in this chapter: (1) “Apportionment standard for the House of Representatives” means the number obtained by dividing the total population in the State by the number of members of the House of Representatives of the General Assembly. (2) “Apportionment …

§ 1903. Periodic reapportionment; standards (a) The House of Representatives and the Senate shall be reapportioned and redistricted on the basis of population during the biennial session after the taking of each decennial census of the United States, or after a census taken for t…

§ 1904. Legislative Apportionment Board (a) There is hereby created the Legislative Apportionment Board, consisting of: a special master designated by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; one resident of the State of Vermont for five years immediately preceding the appointment…

§ 1905. House apportionment—Tentative proposal On or before July 1 of the year following each decennial census under the authority of Congress, the Board shall prepare a tentative proposal for the reapportionment of the House of Representatives. Whenever, in the tentative proposa…

§ 1906. Initial districts; final proposal; final plan Upon receiving recommendations made under section 1905 of this title, the Board shall consider the same, and shall, not later than August 15, prepare a final proposal for dividing the State into initial districts for the elect…

§ 1906a. Final division into representative districts (a) Each initial district listed in section 1893 of this title that is entitled to one Representative shall constitute a Representative district and may elect one Representative at elections for Representatives until the next …

§ 1906b. Division of two-member representative districts (a) An initial district entitled to two Representatives under section 1893 of this title may be divided into single-member representative districts as provided in this section. (b) As soon as practical after enactment of a …

§ 1906c. Division of districts having three or more Representatives (a) An initial district entitled to three or more Representatives under section 1893 of this title shall be divided into single- and two-member representative districts as provided in this section. (b) As soon as…

§ 1907. Senate apportionment (a)(1) On or before July 1 of each year following the taking of a decennial census under the authority of Congress, the Board shall prepare a proposal for reapportionment of the Senate, apportioning the 30 senatorial seats among the counties or combin…

§ 1908. Powers of Board The Legislative Apportionment Board shall have the following powers: (1) To call for, and receive, the assistance of any State, county, or municipal official or employee in obtaining information regarding the population in any county, town, city, village, …

§ 1909. Review (a) Within 30 days of the effective date of any apportionment bill enacted pursuant to section 1906b, 1906c, or 1907 of this chapter, any five or more voters of the State aggrieved by the plan or act may petition the Supreme Court of Vermont for review of same. (b)…

§ 1931. Presiding officer receiving illegal vote A presiding officer in a local, primary, or general election who knowingly receives and counts a vote from a person not a qualified voter or knowingly receives from a voter, at any one balloting for the same office, more than one v…

§ 1932. Counting ballots and opening ballot boxes before proper time A presiding officer at a primary or general election who allows the ballots for representative to the General Assembly, or State, county, or congressional officers to be counted or, except as provided in section…

§ 1933. Nonperformance of duty by public officer Except as otherwise provided by this title, a public officer upon whom a duty is imposed by the provisions of this title who willfully neglects to perform such duty or who willfully performs it in such a way as to hinder the object…

§ 1971. Casting more than one ballot A legal voter who knowingly votes more than once in any election held in this State, or who votes in both this State and another state or territory in the same or equivalent election, for the same office shall be fined not more than $1,000.00 …

§ 1972. Showing ballot A voter who, except in cases of assistance as provided in this title, allows the voter’s ballot to be seen by another person with an apparent intention of letting it be known how the voter is about to vote or makes a false statement to the presiding officer…

§ 1974. Voter omitted from list, voting in another political subdivision A person who is a resident and entitled to vote in a political subdivision in which a checklist of voters has been made previous to an election, whose name, through his or her neglect, is not entered thereon…

§ 1975. Interference with voters and election officials (a) No person shall intentionally or recklessly intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce: (1) any other person for the purpose of: (A) obstructing the right of the other person to vote o…