The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2024 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.
Title 17 : Elections
Chapter 055 : Local Elections
Subchapter 003 : LOCAL ELECTIONS USING THE AUSTRALIAN BALLOT SYSTEM
(Cite as: 17 V.S.A. § 2685a)-
§ 2685a. Procedure for recount
(a) Storage of ballots; assignment of duties.
(1) The town clerk shall store all ballots, still in their sealed containers, in his or her vault until the day of the recount.
(2)(A) The town clerk shall supervise the recount.
(B) If the town clerk is unavailable or is a candidate for the office subject to the recount, the board of civil authority shall appoint a voter of the municipality to perform the duties of the town clerk under this section.
(3)(A) The board of civil authority shall appoint a sufficient number of impartial assistant election officers to perform appropriate tasks to conduct the recount.
(B) Each assistant election officer shall be appointed and sworn as set forth in section 2454 of this title.
(4), (5) [Repealed.]
(b) Preparation for recount.
(1) Before the recount begins, the town clerk shall explain the recount procedures that are to be followed and shall answer questions relating to such procedures.
(2) The election officials shall recount the contents of one container before another container is opened and shall recount the contents of all the containers relating to one polling place before moving to those of another polling place.
(c), (d) [Repealed.]
(e) Ballot review.
(1) If the election officials examining a particular ballot do not agree on how the vote on that ballot should be counted, all of the board of civil authority members present shall review the vote, and the vote shall be counted as agreed upon by a majority of those board of civil authority members.
(2) A write-in vote for a preprinted candidate shall be counted as a vote for that candidate.
(f), (g) [Repealed.]
(h) Other rules for conducting the recount.
(1) The town clerk shall preserve order. If a person, after notice, is persistently disorderly and refuses to withdraw from the premises, the town clerk may cause the person to be removed from the premises.
(2) The town clerk shall designate an area within which the recount shall take place. Persons who are not board of civil authority members or appointed impartial election officers shall be permitted to view a recount in progress, but persons not authorized by the town clerk shall not be permitted within the area designated by the town clerk.
(i) After the recount.
(1)(A) Except as provided in subdivision (B) of this subdivision (1), if the recount results in a tie, a runoff election shall be conducted in accordance with section 2682b of this chapter.
(B) If the recount confirms a tie as to any public question, a new election shall not be held, and the question shall be certified not to have passed.
(2) [Repealed.] (Added 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 58; amended 2017, No. 50, § 59.)
