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
006
:
EARLY OR ABSENTEE VOTERS
(Cite as: 17 V.S.A. § 2548)
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§ 2548. Voting in person
(a) Prior to the opening of the polls, the municipal clerk shall provide the election
officials of each polling place with a list of the names of all persons who have voted
early in the clerk’s office or marked and returned early voter absentee ballots, and
these persons shall not thereafter vote in person in the same election.
(b)(1) A voter who has been issued an early ballot, either by the Secretary of State’s office
pursuant to section 2537a of this subchapter or otherwise by the town clerk, but who
has not returned the voter’s voted ballot to the clerk, may vote in person at the
polling place on election day.
(2) If the voter brings the voter’s marked ballot enclosed in the signed certificate envelope,
the voter may submit that certificate envelope containing the voted ballot to the
entrance checklist official for processing along with any other early or absentee
ballots. The voter shall be marked off the checklist and the clerk shall record the
voter as having returned the absentee ballot on election day in the online election
management system.
(3) If the voter brings the marked ballot, but it is not enclosed in the certificate envelope,
the voter shall be marked off the checklist and be allowed to cast that ballot into
the secure ballot box or tabulator in the same manner as other voters who are voting
in the polling place. The clerk shall record any such voter as having voted in person
on election day in the online election management system.
(4) If the voter brings the unmarked ballot, the voter shall be marked off the checklist
and allowed to proceed to a voting booth to mark that ballot and cast it into the
ballot box or tabulator in the same manner as other voters who are voting in the polling
place. The presiding officer may choose to provide any such voter with a new ballot
in exchange for the unvoted ballot that the voter brought to the polls. The clerk
shall record any such voter as having voted in person on election day in the online
election management system.
(5) If the voter does not bring a marked or an unmarked ballot with them to the polls,
the voter shall be required to sign an affidavit that the voter has not previously
cast a ballot in the election and only then shall they be checked off the checklist
and allowed to vote in the same manner as all other voters who are voting at the polling
place. The clerk shall record any such voter as having voted in person on election
day in the online election management system. Any affidavits signed by voters at the
polling place pursuant to this section shall be retained for a period of 90 days following
the election. (Added 1977, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 2001, No. 6, § 12(a), (b), eff. April 10, 2001; 2007, No. 54, § 8c; 2017, No. 50, § 35; 2021, No. 60, § 17, eff. June 7, 2021.)