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
001
:
PRIMARY ELECTIONS
(Cite as: 17 V.S.A. § 2358)
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§ 2358. Examining petitions; supplementary petitions
(a) The officer with whom primary petitions are filed shall examine them and ascertain
whether they contain a sufficient number of legible signatures. The officer shall
not attempt to ascertain whether there are a sufficient number of signatures of actual
voters, however, unless the officer has reason to believe that the petitions are defective
in this respect.
(b) If found not to conform, the officer shall state in writing on a particular petition
why it cannot be accepted, and within two business days from receipt, the officer
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 date for filing petitions.
However, supplementary petitions shall not be accepted if petitions with signatures
of different persons totaling at least the required number were not received by the
filing deadline.
(c) A signature shall not count for the purpose of meeting the requirements of section 2355 of this title if the officer with whom primary petitions are filed:
(1) cannot identify the name of the person who signed; or
(2) if necessary, determines that the person is not on the checklist of the town that
the person indicates as his or her town of residence.
(d) An officer with whom primary petitions may be filed may obtain from the appropriate
town clerks certified copies of current checklists as needed to verify the adequacy
of primary petitions; town clerks who are asked by a filing officer to furnish certified
copies of checklists for this purpose shall furnish the copies promptly and without
charge. (Added 1977, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1979, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), § 20; 1985, No. 197 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; 2025, No. 70, § 23, eff. June 25, 2025.)