Local Elections Using the Australian Ballot System

V.S.A. tit. 17, ch. 55, subch. 3

in effect

17 V.S.A. § 2680 Australian ballot system; general

2680. Australian ballot system; general (a) Application. Unless specifically required by statute, the provisions of the Australian ballot system shall not apply to the annual or special meeting of a municipality unless that municipality, at its annual meeting or at a special meeting called for that purpose, votes to have them apply. (b) Officers. Once a municipality votes to elect any or all officers by the Australian ballot system, the officers shall be elected in that manner until the municipality votes to discontinue use of the system. A vote on whether to use the Australian ballot system to elect officers shall be in substantially the following form: (1) “Shall (name of municipality) elect its (specify the municipal officer or officers to be elected) by Australian ballot?” or (2) “Shall (name of municipality) elect all municipal officers by Australian ballot?” (c) Budgets. (1) A vote on whether to use the Australian ballot system to establish the budget shall be in substantially the following form: “Shall (name of municipality) adopt its (name of individual budget article) or (all budget articles) by Australian ballot?” (2) If a budget voted on by Australian ballot is rejected, the legislative body shall prepare a revised budget. (A) The legislative body shall establish a date for the vote on the revised budget and shall take appropriate steps to warn a public informational meeting on the budget and the vote. The date of the public informational meeting shall be at least five days following the public notice. The date of the vote shall be at least seven days following the public notice. (B) The vote on the revised budget shall be by Australian ballot and shall take place in the same locations that the first vote was taken; provided, however, that if that polling place is unavailable, the vote may be held at a different location, with notice posted of the meeting location at the original location. (C) The budget shall be established if a majority of all votes cast are in favor. If the revised budget is rejected, the legislative body shall repeat the procedure in this subsection until a budget is adopted. (D) Once a municipality votes to establish its budget by the Australian ballot system, the vote on the budget shall be taken by Australian ballot until the municipality votes to discontinue use of the system. (d) Public questions. (1) A vote on whether to use the Australian ballot on public questions other than the budget shall be in substantially the following form: “Shall (name of municipality) vote on (specify the public question) by Australian ballot?” “Shall (name of municipality) vote on all public questions by Australian ballot?” (2) Once a municipality has voted to vote on any specific or all public questions by Australian ballot, the votes shall be taken by Australian ballot until the municipality votes to discontinue use of the system. (e) Use. A municipality shall not use the Australian ballot system at the same election at which its voters decide that the system shall be used. (f) Presiding officer. The presiding officer for any election or part of an election using the Australian ballot system shall be the town clerk or as otherwise provided in section 2452 of this title. (g) Early and absentee voting. At the time the Australian ballots are available, which shall be not less than 20 days before the election, early and absentee voting shall be permitted in accordance with chapter 51, subchapter 6 of this title. (1) The legislative body of a town, city, or village may vote to mail a ballot to all active registered voters in the town, city, or village. (2) A school board may, after receiving the approval of the legislative body of each member town in the district, vote to mail its annual meeting ballot to all active registered voters in the district. The town clerk and election officials in the member towns shall be responsible for the mailing of the ballots but all costs associated with the mailing of ballots shall be borne by the school district. (3) Ballots shall be mailed not less than 20 days before the election, or as soon as they are available. (4) The mailing of ballots shall be conducted to the extent practicable in accordance with chapter 51, subchapter 6 of this title. (h) Hearing. (1) Whenever a municipality has voted to adopt the Australian ballot system of voting on any public question or budget, except the budget revote as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the legislative body shall hold a public informational hearing on the question by posting warnings at least 10 days in advance of the hearing in at least two public places within the municipality and in the town clerk’s office. (2)(A) The hearing shall be held within the 30 days preceding the meeting at which the Australian ballot system is to be used. The legislative body shall be responsible for the administration of this hearing, including the preparation of minutes. (B) In a town that has voted to start its annual meeting on any of the three days immediately preceding the first Tuesday in March in accordance with subsection 2640(b) of this title, the hearing under this subsection may be held in conjunction with that meeting, in which case the moderator shall preside. (3) A hearing held pursuant to this subsection shall be video recorded and a copy of the recording shall be posted in a designated electronic location until the results of the meeting have been certified. Added 1977, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1979, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 108, 120; 1981, No. 239 (Adj. Sess.), § 24; 1983, No. 30, § 1; 2003, No. 59, § 42; 2007, No. 121 (Adj. Sess.), § 13; 2015, No. 30, § 26, eff. May 26, 2015; 2015, No. 97 (Adj. Sess.), § 46; 2017, No. 50, § 54; 2021, No. 60, § 3, eff. June 7, 2021; 2023, No. 133 (Adj. Sess.), § 9, eff. July 1, 2024; 2025, No. 1, § 1, eff. Feb. 13, 2025; 2025, No. 91 (Adj. Sess.), § 93, eff. Apr. 30, 2026.

17 V.S.A. § 2681 Nominations; petitions; consents

2681. Nominations; petitions; consents (a)(1)(A) Nominations of the municipal officers shall be by petition. The petition shall be filed with the municipal clerk, together with the endorsement, if any, of any party or parties in accordance with the provisions of this title, not later than 5:00 p.m. on the sixth Monday preceding the day of the election, which shall be the filing deadline. (B) A candidate shall be registered to vote in the town he or she is seeking office at or before the time of filing the petition. (2) The candidate shall also file a written consent to the printing of the candidate’s name on the ballot on or before the filing deadline for petitions as set forth in subdivision (1) of this subsection. (3) A petition shall contain the name of only one candidate. (b) A petition shall contain at least 30 valid signatures of voters of the municipality or one percent of the legal voters of the municipality, whichever is less. The candidate, prior to circulating his or her petitions, shall print on them his or her name as it appears on the voter checklist and shall indicate clearly on them which office he or she is seeking. If there are different lengths of term available for an office, the candidate must indicate clearly the length of term, as well. (c) The town clerk shall make petition forms and consent forms available. Petition forms shall be sufficient if they are in substantially the following form: STATE OF VERMONT ..................... County The undersigned hereby petition the town clerk and other town officers of the Town of .......................... , County of .......................... , Vermont that ..................................................................................... (Name of Candidate —— Nominee) be a nominee for election to the office of ..................................................................................... (Name of Office) at the local election to be held in the town on the ................. day of ........................... , 20 ............... . We certify that we are presently voters of that town. NAME/SIGNATURE STREET ADDRESS ......................................... ......................................... ......................................... ......................................... ......................................... ......................................... ......................................... ......................................... (d) A person consenting to be nominated may withdraw by notifying the municipal clerk in writing no later than 5:00 p.m. on the Wednesday after the filing deadline. (e) The officer receiving the petitions shall immediately proceed to examine them to ascertain whether they conform to the provisions of this subchapter. If found not to conform, he or she shall state in writing on the petition why it cannot be accepted, and within 24 hours from receipt he or she shall return it to the candidate in whose behalf it was filed. In this case, supplementary petitions may be filed not later than 5:00 p.m. on the Wednesday after the filing deadline. However, supplementary petitions shall not be accepted if petitions with signatures of different persons totaling at least the number specified in subsection (b) of this section were not filed by the filing deadline set forth in subdivision (a)(1) of this section. Added 1977, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1979, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 109, 120; 1981, No. 239 (Adj. Sess.), § 25; 1985, No. 137 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 51; 2015, No. 30, § 27, eff. May 26, 2015; 2017, No. 50, § 55; 2019, No. 67, § 20.

17 V.S.A. § 2681a Local election ballots

2681a. Local election ballots (a) Ballots for local officers and local public questions shall be prepared at town expense, under the direction of the town clerk, not later than 20 days before the local election. These ballots may be any color and the printing shall be black; in other respects, they shall conform as nearly as may be practicable to the form of the consolidated ballot in chapter 51, subchapter 2 of this title, except as otherwise provided in this section. (b)(1) On the local election ballot, the candidate’s name shall appear as provided in his or her consent form. (2) The board of civil authority may vote to list a street address for each candidate, or the town of residence of each candidate, or no residence at all for each candidate. (c) No political party or other designation shall be listed unless the municipal charter provides for a listing, the town has voted at an earlier election to provide a listing or, in the absence of previous consideration of the question by the town, the legislative body decides to permit listing. If political party or other designations are permitted, no candidate shall use the name of a political party whose certificate of organization has been filed properly with the Secretary of State unless the candidate has been endorsed by a legally called town caucus of that political party for the office in question. In any event, the candidate must still file the petition and consent form required by section 2681 of this title. (d) The names of candidates for the same office, but for different terms of service, shall be arranged in groups according to the length of their respective terms. (e) Public questions shall be written in the form of a question, with boxes indicating a choice of “yes” and “no” directly under or to the right side of the public question. No public question shall pass unless a majority of the votes, excluding blank and overvotes, is cast in favor of the proposition. Added 1979, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), § 110; amended 1989, No. 211 (Adj. Sess.), § 6; 2007, No. 54, § 12; 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 52; 2017, No. 50, § 56; 2025, No. 91 (Adj. Sess.), § 94, eff. Apr. 30, 2026.

17 V.S.A. § 2682 Process of voting; appointments

2682. Process of voting; appointments (a) Election expenses shall be assumed by the municipality. (b) Returns shall be filed with the town clerk. (c) In a municipal election controlled by this subchapter, the person receiving the greatest number of votes for an office shall be declared elected to that office and a certificate of election need not be issued. (d) In the event no person files a petition for an office that is to be filled at the annual or special meeting of a municipality, and if no person is otherwise elected to fill the office, a majority of the legislative body of the municipality may appoint a voter of the municipality to fill the office until the next annual meeting. (e) [Repealed.] (f) When the same number of persons are nominated for any town office as there are positions to be filled, the presiding officer may declare the whole slate of candidates elected without making individual tallies, provided each person on the slate has more votes than the largest number of write-in votes for any one write-in candidate. Added 1977, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1979, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), § 111; 2007, No. 54, § 14; 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 53.

17 V.S.A. § 2682a Write-in candidates

2682a. Write-in candidates Notwithstanding the provisions of section 2682 of this subchapter, in order to be elected, a write-in candidate shall receive at least 30 votes or the votes of one percent of the registered voters in the municipality, whichever is less. Added 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 54.

17 V.S.A. § 2682b Tie votes for local office

2682b. Tie votes for local office If there is a tie vote for any office, the legislative body or, in its stead, the municipal clerk shall within seven days warn a runoff election to be held not less than 15 days nor more than 22 days after the warning. The only candidates in the runoff election shall be those who were tied in the original election. However, if one of the candidates that are tied withdraws his or her candidacy within five days after the election, the town clerk shall certify the other tied candidate as the winner, and there shall be no runoff election. Added 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 55.

17 V.S.A. § 2683 Request for a recount; candidates

2683. Request for a recount; candidates (a) A candidate for local office may request a recount by filing a request in writing with the municipal clerk within 10 days after the election. (b) If the difference between the number of votes cast for a winning candidate and the number of votes cast for a losing candidate is five percent or less of the total votes cast for all the candidates for an office, divided by the number of persons to be elected, that losing candidate shall have the right to have the votes for that office recounted. Added 1977, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1979, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), § 112; 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 56; 2017, No. 50, § 57.

17 V.S.A. § 2684 Time and place of recount; notice

2684. Time and place of recount; notice The clerk shall fix the time and place for a recount for not less than two nor more than five days from the time the petition is received, and shall promptly notify the opposing candidates and the board of civil authority. Added 1977, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1979, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), § 113.

17 V.S.A. § 2685 Conduct of recount

2685. Conduct of recount (a)(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, at the time and place specified by the clerk, the board of civil authority shall break the seal, open the ballot container, and recount the votes pursuant to the procedure set forth in section 2685a of this subchapter and otherwise in the same manner as the votes were counted on the day of the election. (2) When the ballot for the office is printed on index stock and configured to be readable by vote tabulator, the town clerk and board of civil authority shall conduct the recount by vote tabulator, pursuant to the procedure set forth in chapter 51, subchapter 9 of this title to the greatest extent practicable, if: (A) the candidate who petitions for a recount requests that it be conducted by vote tabulator; (B) the board of civil authority, at a meeting held not less than 60 days prior to a local election and warned pursuant to 24 V.S.A. § 801, has voted to require the municipality for which it is elected to use vote tabulators in subsequent recounts; or (C) the municipality has voted to use vote tabulators in subsequent recounts pursuant to a meeting warned for the purpose. (b) The petitioner, the opposing candidates, and their designated representatives may inspect the ballots and observe the recount under the guidance of the board. (c) The board shall certify the result to the town clerk, who shall declare the result. (d) After the recount, the board shall seal the ballots and other materials back in the containers and the town clerk shall safely store them as provided in section 2590 of this title. Added 1977, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1979, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), § 114; 2009, No. 40, § 4a; 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 57; 2015, No. 30, § 28, eff. May 26, 2015; 2017, No. 50, § 58.

17 V.S.A. § 2685a Procedure for recount

2685a. Procedure for recount (a) Storage of ballots; assignment of duties. (1) The town clerk shall store all ballots, still in their sealed containers, in his or her vault until the day of the recount. (2)(A) The town clerk shall supervise the recount. (B) If the town clerk is unavailable or is a candidate for the office subject to the recount, the board of civil authority shall appoint a voter of the municipality to perform the duties of the town clerk under this section. (3)(A) The board of civil authority shall appoint a sufficient number of impartial assistant election officers to perform appropriate tasks to conduct the recount. (B) Each assistant election officer shall be appointed and sworn as set forth in section 2454 of this title. (4), (5) [Repealed.] (b) Preparation for recount. (1) Before the recount begins, the town clerk shall explain the recount procedures that are to be followed and shall answer questions relating to the procedures. (2) The election officials shall recount the contents of one container before another container is opened and shall recount the contents of all the containers relating to one polling place before moving to those of another polling place. (c), (d) [Repealed.] (e) Ballot review. (1) If the election officials examining a particular ballot do not agree on how the vote on that ballot should be counted, all of the board of civil authority members present shall review the vote, and the vote shall be counted as agreed upon by a majority of those board of civil authority members. (2) A write-in vote for a preprinted candidate shall be counted as a vote for that candidate. (f), (g) [Repealed.] (h) Other rules for conducting the recount. (1) The town clerk shall preserve order. If a person, after notice, is persistently disorderly and refuses to withdraw from the premises, the town clerk may cause the person to be removed from the premises. (2) The town clerk shall designate an area within which the recount shall take place. Persons who are not board of civil authority members or appointed impartial election officers shall be permitted to view a recount in progress, but persons not authorized by the town clerk shall not be permitted within the area designated by the town clerk. (i) After the recount. (1)(A) Except as provided in subdivision (B) of this subdivision (1), if the recount results in a tie, a runoff election shall be conducted in accordance with section 2682b of this chapter. (B) If the recount confirms a tie as to any public question, a new election shall not be held, and the question shall be certified not to have passed. (2) [Repealed.] Added 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 58; amended 2017, No. 50, § 59; 2025, No. 91 (Adj. Sess.), § 95, eff. Apr. 30, 2026.

17 V.S.A. § 2686 Declaration of result

2686. Declaration of result If the recount shows that a person other than the one declared elected upon the original canvass of votes has the number of votes required by law for election to office, that person shall be declared elected and shall be entitled to the office. Added 1977, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.

17 V.S.A. § 2687 Appeal to Superior Court

2687. Appeal to Superior Court Within five days after the declaration of the clerk, an aggrieved candidate may appeal to the Superior Court by giving a written notice to that effect to the other candidates who appeared before the board of civil authority. The original of the notice shall be filed with the county clerk. No entry fee shall be charged in these matters. The Superior Court shall immediately issue an order directing the town clerk to transmit to the county clerk all ballots, papers, and records affecting the appeal, and fixing a time for hearing in open court or before a referee not later than five days from the making of the order. The order shall be served upon the town clerk and all other candidates who have appeared before the board. A reference may be ordered upon any or all questions. At the time and place so fixed, the matter shall be summarily heard and determined and the costs taxed as in other civil actions. Added 1977, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1985, No. 198 (Adj. Sess.), § 13.

17 V.S.A. § 2688 Recount on question submitted

2688. Recount on question submitted (a) A registered voter or, in the case of a union school district, at least one registered voter from each member of the union district may demand a recount of ballots on any question submitted to the vote of the municipality using the Australian ballot system, if the margin by which the question passed or failed is less than five percent of the total votes cast on the question. (b) The request shall be filed with the municipal clerk within 10 days after the vote. The procedure shall be the same as in the case of recount of the votes cast for a candidate at an election. (c) The petitioner and his or her designated representative and a voter representing the other side of the question voted upon and his or her designated representative may inspect the vote and observe the recount under the guidance of the board of civil authority. Added 1977, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1979, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), § 115; 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 59.

17 V.S.A. § 2689 Preservation of ballots

2689. Preservation of ballots In an election in which the Australian ballot system is used, the ballots shall be preserved as provided in this title in the case of general elections. Added 1977, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.

Source: Vermont General Assembly (legislature.vermont.gov)URL: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/chapter/17/055Fetched: 10/21/2026