The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Subchapter
004
:
ADMINISTRATION
(Cite as: 6 V.S.A. § 255)
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§ 255. Eligibility of producers; conduct of referendum
(a) Only persons who verify pursuant to this section that they are producers shall be
eligible to vote in a referendum. The Secretary shall prepare a list of all persons
believed to be producers. At least 28 days prior to the referendum, he or she shall
mail to each person on the list a notice of the referendum and a statement on which
each person may verify that he or she is a producer within the meaning of this chapter.
The Secretary shall also cause to be published the notice and verification statement
in two newspapers of general circulation throughout the State on the same day for
two successive weeks, the last date of publication to be at least 28 days prior to
the date of the referendum. The notice shall also state that no producer shall be
eligible to vote unless he or she returns the verification statement to the Secretary
postmarked at least 10 days prior to the date of the referendum. A referendum shall
not be considered invalid because a producer is unknown to the Secretary or does not
receive notification.
(b) Upon receipt of signed verifications, the Secretary shall mail ballots to all producers
who have verified their eligibility to vote. Those producers shall mark their ballots
and return them to the Secretary either by hand not later than 10 days after the referendum
date or by mail postmarked not later than 10 days after the referendum date.
(c) The Secretary shall count the ballots and release the results to the public.
(d) The results of any referendum shall bind all producers regardless of whether they
voted, or were eligible to vote, in the referendum. The results shall also bind persons
who become producers thereafter.
(e) Prior to the issuance, amendment, or termination of any marketing rule, the Secretary
may require the applicant to deposit with the Agency an amount determined by the Secretary
to defray the expense of conducting the referendum. The funds shall be managed as
provided by section 256 of this title. If the proposed market rule action is approved in a referendum, the Secretary shall
return any unexpended monies collected to the applicant. (Added 1985, No. 41, § 3, eff. May 11, 1985; amended 1993, No. 73, § 1, eff. June 10, 1993; 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003; 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 55, eff. July 1, 2022.)