The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 17: Elections

Chapter 057: Presidential Elections

• Subchapter 001: Presidential Primary

• § 2701. Presidential primary; time of holding; form of ballot

  In presidential election years, a presidential primary for each major political party shall be held in all municipalities on the first Tuesday in March. The Secretary of State shall prepare and distribute for use at the primary an official ballot for each party for which one or more candidates qualify for the placing of their names on the ballot under section 2702 of this title. Ballots shall be printed on index stock and configured to be readable by vote tabulators. (Added 1979, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 6, 1980; amended 1995, No. 38, § 2; 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 33.)

• § 2702. Nominating petition

  (a) The name of any person shall be printed upon the primary ballot as a candidate for nomination by any major political party if petitions signed by at least 1,000 voters in accordance with sections 2353, 2354, and 2358 of this title are filed with the Secretary of State, together with the written consent of the person to the printing of the person’s name on the ballot.

  (b) Petitions shall be filed not later than 5:00 p.m. on the 15th day of December preceding the primary election.

  (c) The petition shall be in a form prescribed by the Secretary of State.

  (d) A person’s name shall not be listed as a candidate on the primary ballot of more than one party in the same election.

  (e) Each petition shall be accompanied by a filing fee of $2,000.00 to be paid to the Secretary of State. However, if the petition of a candidate is accompanied by the affidavit of the candidate, which shall be available for public inspection, that the candidate and the candidate’s campaign committee are without sufficient funds to pay the filing fee, the Secretary of State shall waive all but $300.00 of the payment of the filing fee by that candidate. (Added 1979, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 6, 1980; amended 1995, No. 38, § 3; 2011, No. 66, § 16, eff. June 1, 2011; amended 2013, No. 1, § 82; 2017, No. 50, § 62.)

• § 2703. Examining petitions; supplementary petitions

  The Secretary of State shall examine the petitions and ascertain whether they conform to the provisions of this chapter, and sections 2353, 2354, and 2358 of this title. If found not to conform, he or she shall state in writing why a particular petition cannot be accepted, and within 72 hours from receipt he or she shall return it to the candidate in whose behalf it was filed. In such case, supplementary petitions may be filed not later than 10 days after the deadline for filing petitions. However, supplementary petitions shall not be accepted if petitions with the signatures of at least 1,000 persons were not filed by the deadline for filing petitions set forth in section 2702 of this chapter. (Added 1979, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 6, 1980; amended 2015, No. 30, § 29, eff. May 26, 2015.)

• § 2704. Ballots

  A person voting at the primary shall be required to ask for the ballot of the party in which the voter wishes to vote and an election official shall record the voter’s choice of ballot by marking the entrance checklist with a letter code, as designated by the Secretary of State, to indicate the voter’s party choice. The names of all candidates on the ballot shall be listed in alphabetical order. Each voter may vote for one candidate for the presidential nomination of one party, either by placing a mark opposite the printed name of a candidate as in other primaries, or by writing in the name of the candidate of the voter’s choice. (Added 1979, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 6, 1980; amended 1995, No. 38, § 4; 2003, No. 59, § 43.)

• § 2705. Checklist

  The checklist for the primary shall be the checklist to be used at the annual town meeting, except that the names of residents of unorganized towns and gores shall be added to the checklist in the manner provided in section 2123 of this title and it shall be stated next to their names that they are eligible to vote in the presidential primary but not on town meeting items. Towns that do not hold an annual meeting on the first Tuesday or the Monday evening before the first Tuesday in March shall update their checklist before the election as required by chapter 43 of this title. (Added 1979, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 6, 1980; 1995, No. 38, § 5.)

• § 2706. Provisions applicable

  The appropriate provisions of this title shall apply to presidential primaries, unless clearly inconsistent herewith. (Added 1979, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 6, 1980; amended 1995, No. 38, § 6.)

• Subchapter 002: Delegates to National Convention; Presidential Nominations

• § 2715. Party convention to elect delegates

  (a) The State committee of each major political party holding a national convention shall call a party convention, under rules proposed in advance and adopted by the committee, to be held during the month of May or June in each presidential election year. At the convention, delegates and alternates to the national convention of such party, to the number apportioned to this State, shall be elected by the rules adopted by each major political party.

  (b) Each major political party shall adopt rules relating to the delegates and alternates of a candidate who has withdrawn as a candidate. A declaration of withdrawal shall be made in writing and becomes effective when filed with the Secretary of State.

  (c) Each major political party shall adopt rules relating to the manner in which the delegates elected in accordance with this section shall represent, at the national convention, the voters for whom the delegates were elected. (Added 1979, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 6, 1980; amended 1991, No. 126 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. April 10, 1992; 1995, No. 38, § 7.)

• § 2716. Notification to Secretary of State

  Not later than 5:00 p.m. on the 65th day before the day of the general election, the chair of the State committee of each major political party shall certify in writing to the Secretary of State the names of the presidential and vice presidential nominees selected at the party’s national convention. (Added 1979, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 6, 1980; amended 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 60; 2017, No. 50, § 63.)

• Subchapter 003: Nomination of Electors

• § 2721. Nomination of presidential electors

  In presidential election years, presidential electors for major political parties shall be nominated at the party platform convention held pursuant to this title. Electors for all other presidential candidates shall be nominated pursuant to chapter 49, subchapter 3 of this title. (Added 1979, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 6, 1980.)

• § 2722. Certification of nominees for electors

  After adjournment of the platform convention of a major political party, the chair and secretary of the convention shall promptly execute a sworn statement certifying the names, towns of residence, and correct mailing addresses of the persons nominated by the convention to serve as electors, and shall promptly file the statement with the Secretary of State, along with the written consent of each person to be a nominee for elector. (Added 1979, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 6, 1980.)

• Subchapter 004: Meeting of Electors

• § 2731. Certificates of election

  When the canvassing committee provided for in section 2592 of this title meets, it shall issue its certificates of election, with respect to the presidential election, to the electors nominated by the party whose candidate for President has received the greatest number of votes, except that if the agreement set forth in 17 V.S.A. chapter 58 (agreement among the states to elect the President by national popular vote) governs the appointment of presidential electors as provided in subsection 2753(i) of this title, the committee shall issue its certificates of election, with respect to the presidential election, to the electors nominated in association with the national popular vote winner as provided in subsection 2753(c) of this title. (Added 1979, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 6, 1980; amended 2021, No. 123 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 2022.)

• § 2732. Meeting of electors

  (a) The electors shall meet at the State House on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December next following their election to vote for the President and Vice President of the United States, agreeably to the laws of the United States.

  (b)(1) If there is a vacancy in the electoral college on that day, occasioned by death, refusal to act, neglect to attend, failure of a person elected to qualify, or for other cause, the other electors present shall at once fill such vacancy viva voce and by a plurality of votes.

  (2) When all the electors appear or a vacancy therein is filled, the electors shall perform the duties required of them by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

  (3) If a vacancy occurs and is filled as aforesaid, the electors shall attach to the certificate of their votes a statement showing how such a vacancy occurred and their action thereon.

  (c)(1) Each elector shall vote for the candidates for President and Vice President who were nominated by the same political party or organization that nominated the elector or for the legal successor who has replaced that candidate for President and Vice President due to the candidate’s death, resignation, or disqualification.

  (2) Each elector shall present the elector’s completed ballots to the Secretary of State, who shall examine them.

  (3)(A) The Secretary of State shall accept and count the ballots of an elector who has voted for the candidates for President and Vice President required under subdivision (1) of this subsection (c).

  (B) The Secretary of State shall not accept and shall not count an elector’s ballots if the elector has not marked both ballots or has marked one ballot in violation of subdivision (1) of this subsection (c).

  (4) If an elector refuses to present a ballot, presents an unmarked ballot, or presents a ballot marked in violation of subdivision (1) of this subsection (c), then the elector’s office is vacated, the Secretary of State shall declare the creation of the vacancy, and the vacancy shall be filled as set forth in subsection (b) of this section. (Added 1979, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 6, 1980; amended 2021, No. 123 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 2022.)