§ 2472. Contents
(a) The ballot shall be titled “OFFICIAL VERMONT GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT,” followed by
the date of the election. Immediately below, the following instructions shall be printed:
“Instruction to Voters: To vote for a candidate whose name is printed on the ballot,
fill in the oval at the right of that person’s name and party designation. To vote
for a candidate whose name is not printed on the ballot, write the person’s name on
the blank line in the appropriate block and fill in the oval to the right of that
blank line. When there are two or more candidates to be elected to one office, you
may vote for any number of candidates up to and including the maximum number.” The
name of the town or towns and legislative district in which the ballot is to be used
shall be listed in the upper left hand corner.
(b)(1) Each office to be voted upon shall be separately indicated and preceded by the word
“For,” as: “For United States Senator.” Beneath the office to be voted upon shall
appear the instructions: “Vote for not more than (the number of candidates to be elected).”
(2) The names of the candidates for each office shall be listed in alphabetical order
by surname, followed by the candidate’s town of residence, and the party or parties
by which the candidate has been nominated, or in the case of independent candidates
who have not chosen some other name or identification, by the word “Independent.”
The word “party” shall not be printed on the ballot following a candidate’s party
name.
(3) To the right of the party designation shall be an oval in which the voter may indicate
his or her choice by filling in the oval.
(4) A candidate’s name shall not appear on the ballot more than once for any one office.
(5)(A) In order to have votes listed for a write-in candidate under section 2587 of this title, not later than 5:00 p.m. on the Thursday preceding the election, a write-in candidate
for the General Assembly, any State office, or any federal office shall complete a
form of the Secretary of State’s design affirming that the candidate wants to have
received votes listed under subdivision 2587(e)(3) of this title. The candidate shall file the form with either all town clerks within the candidate’s
applicable district or the Secretary of State’s office in an electronic manner approved
by the Secretary. The Secretary of State shall notify the appropriate town clerks
of any filings made in accordance with this subsection (b) as soon as practicable.
(B) Notwithstanding subdivision (A) of this subdivision (b)(5), a write-in candidate is
not required to file if:
(i) the candidate has already filed a consent to the printing of the candidate’s name
on the ballot for a major political party, as provided in section 2361, 2385, or 2402 of this title; or
(ii) no candidate is printed on the ballot, or if a candidate whose name is printed on
the ballot dies or is otherwise disqualified prior to 7:00 p.m. on the election day.
(c) Following the names of candidates for each office, there shall be as many blank write-in
lines as there are persons to be elected to that office. To the right of each such
line shall be the words “Write-In” and an oval identical to the ovals that follow
the candidates’ names. Lines provided for writing in names for President and Vice
President shall be separately designated by the words “President” and “Vice President.”
(d) [Repealed.]
(e) When an article is to be voted on and the legislative body determines that the article
is too long or unwieldy to show in full on the ballot, it shall be sufficient for
the ballot to show the article by the number and title for that article as they were
listed in the warning for the election. However, the complete article shall be posted
in a conspicuous place within each voting booth. (Added 1977, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1979, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.),§§ 43-45; 2007, No. 54, § 5; 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 23; 2015, No. 30, § 9, eff. May 26, 2015; 2017, No. 50, § 21; 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 121; 2025, No. 70, § 10, eff. June 25, 2025.)