VOTER REGISTRATION

Registration Deadline: You may register to vote on any day up to and including the day of the election. However, if you register online the day before the election or on Election Day, your application may not be processed and your name may not appear on the checklist and you may be asked to fill out another application at the polls. To be sure your name appears on the checklist, please register by the Friday before the election.

Party Affiliation: All registered voters can vote in the primary election—but can only vote on one ballot. You will be given a ballot for each of the major parties. You mark one of the ballots and put the remaining unvoted ballots into a discard bin. Which ballot you chose to vote is private and not recorded (except during the presidential primary, where voters must publicly take one ballot or the other, and their choice is recorded on the entrance checklist).

VOTER REGISTRATION QUALIFICATIONS

Age: Must be 18 years or older on or before election day

Citizenship: Must be a United States citizen

Residency: Must be a resident of Vermont and a resident of the town in which you apply to be added to the checklist

Voter’s oath: has taken, or has previously taken, the Voter’s Oath

ID Requirements: When completing your application, you must include your Vermont driver’s license number on the form. If you do not have a Vermont driver’s license number or if your license is suspended, include the last four digits of your Social Security number.

If you are registering to vote for the first time in Vermont by mail, you must include a photocopy of an acceptable form of ID. Acceptable forms of ID are:

   -A valid photo ID(driver's license or passport);

   -A copy of a current utility bill;

   -A copy of a current bank statement; or

   -A copy of another government document.

Convicted Felons: Imprisoned peoples and convicted felons allowed to vote in the state of vermont. 

Competency Laws: Vermont has no disqualifying legislation unless the citizen has been adjudicated incompetent and has not been restored to legal capacity. A qualified voter under conservatorship or guardianship retains the right to vote.

Please review 17 V.S.A. § 2122 for special cases of residency when registering to vote in Vermont. 

Overseas and Military Voters should refer to the Federal Voting Assistance Program.

OBTAINING A VOTER REGISTRATION FORM

Online: Online registration 

In person: Obtain and complete an application in person at your local town clerk.

By mail/ in writing: Download a copy of the application, fill it out and send it to your town clerk.

VERIFYING YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION STATUS

Online: You can check your registration status online.

Phone: contact your town or city clerk.

ABSENTEE BALLOT QUALIFICATIONS

Who can vote absentee: Any registered Vermont voter can vote by absentee ballot

OBTAINING AN ABSENTEE BALLOT

Online: Vermont Absentee Ballot Application

In person: A voter may pick up a ballot at the town clerk’s office at any time beginning forty-five days prior to the general or primary election or 20 days before a municipal election using an Australian ballot. A voter may vote in the clerk's office, during normal business hours, anytime after the ballots are delivered until the day before the election.

By mail: Any voter can request that the town clerk mail them an early voter absentee ballot. Any voter may also send a completed absentee ballot request form to the local town clerk.

Military and overseas voting: To register to vote and request an absentee ballot, visit the My Voter Page.

Military or overseas voters may also request an absentee ballot by telephone, fax, email, or by mail. You may also request that the unvoted ballot and certificate for the return envelope be sent to you by email, fax, or mail. If you have the ballot and certificate sent by email or fax, the clerk will include instructions for you. However, under Vermont law, voted ballots must be returned to the town clerk inside the absentee certificate envelope (with the voter’s original signature). Voted ballots may not be returned by fax or email.

For more voting information for military and/or overseas voters, please visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program.

Other absentee ballot information: All early voter absentee ballot requests must be submitted by 5:00 pm, or the close of the Town Clerk's office on the day before the election. All ballots must be returned to the town clerk’s office before the close of the office on the day before the election, or to the polling place before 7 p.m. on the day of the election, in order to be counted.

SUBMITTING AN ABSENTEE BALLOT

Location and time: All early voter absentee ballot requests must be submitted by 5 p.m. or by the close of the town clerk’s office on the day before the election.

All ballots must be returned to the town clerk’s office before the close of the office on the day before the election, or to the polling place before 7 p.m. on the day of the election, in order to be counted. 

If you are sick or have a disability, a ballot can be delivered to your home on Election Day. You may request an absentee ballot up until 5 p.m. on the day before the election. Two justices of the peace (of different parties when possible) will deliver a ballot to you, and then will bring the ballot back to the polling place so that it can be placed in the ballot box and counted.

VOTING ON ELECTION DAY

Polls open between 5 am and 10 am, depending on the town. All polling places close at 7 pm.

In Vermont, only first time voters who have registered by mail have to show ID in order to vote. If you registered when you renewed your driver’s license, or as part of a voter registration drive, you will not be required to show ID.

If you plan to wear candidate paraphernalia, you will have to cover it while inside the building containing the polling place.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Verifying Registration: To verify your voter registration status, please contact your local town clerk's office.

Deciding how to vote: https://votesmart.org/

Getting your vote counted: Know your Voting Rights; track your absentee vote here

Problems with voting: Call 1-800-439-8683 or Email sos.elections@vermont.gov

Verifying absentee ballot status: To verify your absentee ballot status, please contact your local town clerk's office.