The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 17: Elections

Chapter 032: Publication and Ratification of Articles of Amendment to Vermont Constitution

• Subchapter 001: Interim Publication

• § 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 the proposal or proposals of amendment and forward them, with a summary of proposed changes, for publication in at least two newspapers having general circulation in the State, as determined by the Secretary of State. The proposal or proposals shall be so published once each week for three successive weeks in each of the papers at the expense of the State and on the websites of the General Assembly and the Office of the Secretary of State. (Added 1971, No. 211 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 3, 1972; amended 1981, No. 239 (Adj. Sess.), § 32; 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 61.)

• Subchapter 002: Ratification

• § 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 State for their ratification and adoption in the manner provided in this chapter.

  (b) Following the concurrence by the succeeding General Assembly but prior to being submitted to the people of the State, the Governor shall issue a proclamation providing public notice of the proposed constitutional amendment. (Added 1971, No. 211 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 3, 1972; amended 2019, No. 67, § 1.)

• § 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-numbered years, and the warning for each meeting shall contain an article, in substance as follows:

  “To see if the voters will vote to accept or reject the proposed article of amendment to the Constitution of Vermont.”

  (b) The omission of that article from the warning shall not invalidate nor affect the vote on the proposed article of amendment, and the voters of each town or city shall vote on the article of amendment whether the warning contains the foregoing article or not. (Added 1971, No. 211 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 3, 1972; amended 1981, No. 239 (Adj. Sess.), § 33; 2019, No. 67, § 1.)

• § 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 authority shall, in open meeting, receive, sort, and count the votes of the voters for and against the article of amendment and the result shall be declared by the presiding officer. That result shall be recorded by the clerk of the town or city and true returns thereof shall be made, sealed up, and sent by the clerk by mail or otherwise to the Secretary of State as provided in section 2588 of this title.

  (c) The polls for voting on the article of amendment shall be open as provided in section 2561 of this title. (Added 1971, No. 211 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 3, 1972; amended 1981, No. 239 (Adj. Sess.), § 34; 2019, No. 67, § 1.)

• § 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, with a summary of proposed changes, for publication in at least two newspapers having general circulation in the State, as determined by the Secretary of State.

  (2) The proposal shall be so published once each week for three successive weeks in each of the papers at the expense of the State and on the websites of the General Assembly and the Office of the Secretary of State.

  (b) The Secretary of State shall cause ballots to be prepared for a vote by the voters of the State upon the proposal of amendment. (Added 1971, No. 211 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 3, 1972; amended 1981, No. 239 (Adj. Sess.), § 35; 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 62; 2019, No. 67, § 1.)

• § 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. (Added 1971, No. 211 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 3, 1972; amended 1981, No. 239 (Adj. Sess.), § 6; 2019, No. 67, § 1.)

• § 1845a. Omitted.

• § 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 town or city upon the proposed article of amendment. (Added 1971, No. 211 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 3, 1972; amended 1981, No. 239 (Adj. Sess.), § 36; 2019, No. 67, § 1.)

• § 1847. Repealed. 1981, No. 239 (Adj. Sess.), § 37.

• § 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; and if it appears therefrom that the article of amendment has been ratified and adopted by a majority of the voters voting thereon, the amendment shall be enrolled on the parchment and deposited in the office of the Secretary of State as a part of the Constitution of this State and shall, in all future official revisions of the laws, be published in immediate connection therewith. (Added 1971, No. 211 (Adj. sess.), § 2, eff. April 3, 1972; amended 1981, No. 239 (Adj. Sess.), § 38; 2019, No. 67, § 1.)

• § 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 the amendment has become a part of the Constitution thereof and requiring all officers and all citizens of the State to take notice thereof and govern themselves accordingly; or that the article of amendment has been rejected, as the case may be. (Added 1971, No. 211 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 3, 1972; amended 2019, No. 67, § 1.)

• § 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 ratification of an article of amendment is taken, the Secretary of State shall, within the period prescribed by section 1844 of this chapter, send to the clerk of each city and town ballots provided for in that section and blank forms for the returns of votes on the article of amendment. (Added 1971, No. 211 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 3, 1972; amended 2019, No. 67, § 1.)