Office of the Vermont Secretary of State - www.sec.state.vt.us 26 Terrace Street, Montpelier, VT 05609-1101 : Phone 802-828-2363 |
|
|
|
||||
|
Mapping Change I pity the early cartographers who tried to map what we now know as Vermont. The boundaries of Vermont were under dispute. The landscape was populated by place names associated with Native Vermonters as well as with the competing European settlers and claimants. Trying to phonetically translate Native terms was a challenge in itself. Was it the Winooskitook, the Ouinoustick, the Winooski, or, avoiding the problem altogether, the Onion River? What about French names? Was it La Riviere a la Mouette or should the engraver’s error that translated this as Lamoille be retained? And what should one do with the names of New York patents, such as Kersborough, Meath and Minto that overlay towns named by New Hampshire and later Vermont? Mapping Vermont’s public records laws can be equally confusing. Can we easily navigate among personnel and personal records or between an undefined right to privacy and "a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy?" And what about the heretofore uncharted territory populated by "records which by law are designated confidential or by a similar term?" [The quoted language is from 1 V.S.A. §317(c).] The Archives has begun to map Vermont’s public records laws through an online database (http://vermont-archives.org/records/access/database/index.htm). The database currently allows for an "agency search" that provides a drop down list for finding public record exemptions for specific agencies. Exemptions common to all agencies can be found by clicking on "all agencies" while municipal exemptions can be found by clicking on "municipalities." Categories of exemptions, such as "consumer privacy," can be found by using the exemption drop down list. The Archives is continuing to work on the database and hopes to add case law links and note fields that further clarify the intent of specific exemptions. In putting the database together we benefited from the work of Leah Korce of the Vermont Law School and from Assistant State Archivist Tanya Marshall’s database skills. We welcome comments. One question we have already encountered is what the Archives interest is in Vermont’s public record laws. The answer, in part, is simply that in helping agencies and municipalities manage their public records we need to know what right to know mandates apply. The answer also embraces the value in re-thinking what we, as custodians of public records, do and how we do it (see my September Opinions column on "Premature Burial"). Whether the result of conscious thought or ad hoc incremental change, the Archives’ role has been transformed throughout our history. In 1782 when the general assembly first enumerated the duties of the office of secretary of state, the preservation and accessibility of records with a continuing legal value was the primary concern. The 1782 required "all public Acts, Papers and Records that belong to the State, excepting particular Records and Papers of the [Executive] Council, be deposited and remain in the hands of the Secretary of State." The secretary was to "grant Copies of All Records when thereto requested, taking therefor reasonable fees…" The evidentiary role of the Archives was expanded through a subsequent series of acts. For example the Archives became the depository for the "official correspondence" of governors in 1864, town boundary surveys in 1902, and legislative committee records in 1917. In 1823 Secretary of State William Slade expanded the role of the Archives to make records, and the knowledge they represent, broadly accessible. Slade wrote that, "Every government…should possess, and should place within the reach of the people, a complete history of its own legislation. Without the possession of such a history, and a practical regard to the lessons it inculcates, legislation will be, at best, but a succession of experiments, and, as a necessary consequence, every operation of government will be characterized with instability and a want of wisdom." Slade met his own charge by publishing a volume of State Papers related to the formation and early years of Vermont. Act 259 of 1912 linked the Archives' evidentiary and publication roles by requiring the secretary of state to publish "the charters of all towns and gores granted by the state, such volumes or parts of the papers of the surveyor general, including the reproduction of maps thereof, and such other manuscript records of his office as in his judgment are of general public interest." After publication of an index to surveyor general records and of Vermont land grant charters, the evidentiary value of records was slowly subsumed by a program to annotate and publish 18th century government records. While these volumes made early Vermont government records more broadly accessible, the link between archival records and ongoing legal and public issues weakened. The Archives came to be seen as a historical, not evidentiary, function of government and government recordkeeping suffered. In the 1980s the link between the evidentiary and publication roles was re-established, starting with the publication of an index to municipal governance charters. At the same time the Archives began improving access to 19th and 20th century records through better management practices and the creation of finding aids. In the 1990s the archival role was further transformed through the use of computers and the Internet. For example the Archives began a "Continuing Issues" web publication that synthesized record-based information related to public dialogues before the legislature. The use of the Internet marked a major change in the Archives’ role. No longer were government officials and citizens expected to come to us and look through finding aids to find information. Instead that information, summarized but supported by online copies of records, was available to anyone with access to the Internet. The Archives again became a decision-making tool. In 2003, in part because the evidentiary and knowledge functions of the Archives had been re-established, a new law enumerated for the first time the authorities needed to actively identify and manage archival records. Management meant no longer passively awaiting for records, but instead actively working with agencies to identify and preserve archival records. Many of the tools now being created by the Archives, such as the right-to-know database, derive from these new management authorities and practices. This breathless rush through the Archives’ history demonstrates how what we do, and how we do it, constantly changes. There is, by the bye, a strong need to better understand how the roles of municipal archives have changed. While we still record, file, copy, etc. our records, how we do those tasks is being transformed. Traditional record formats and media are also changing. With the Internet it is becoming essential to better understand what our actual and potential users want, in what form. It is an exciting, if daunting, time. We are rightly concerned with the impact of new technologies but how will spreadsheets, databases, and geographic information systems allow us to enhance citizen awareness of and participation in municipal government? I look forward to working with all of you as we re-think our archival responsibilities. Table of Contents | Past Issues of Opinions | Secretary of State's Homepage
|
||||
|
1. People on the ballot generally may not serve as election officials. No person who is a candidate for an office in a contested race printed on the general election ballot may serve as an election official for that election unless the person is running for Justice of the Peace or Ward Clerk. 17 V.S.A. §2456. A candidate’s spouse, parent or child may not deliver absentee ballots to ill or physically disabled voters when the candidate is disqualified from serving as an election official. 17 V.S.A. §2538. Whenever possible, the best practice is to avoid even the suggestion of a lack of impartiality. So, even if a candidate can serve as an election official, do not have the candidate count ballots for the office that he or she is seeking. 2. Presiding officer assigns jobs on election day. The presiding officer assigns members of the BCA and other election workers hours and duties at the polls. 17 V.S.A. §2455. While the presiding officer will often take into account individual preferences, he or she is not required to do so. Indeed, if the presiding officer believes that an individual is disruptive or not capable of performing the duties he or she can choose not to assign any duties at all to that person. 3. Election worker pay is determined by voters or selectboard. There is no law requiring that the town pay the people who run the election for the town. The compensation, if any, of those who deliver absentee ballots is established by the BCA. 17 V.S.A. §2538(a). Compensation of other election assistants, if any, is determined by the electorate at town meeting, as part of the normal budget process, or in lieu of that express vote, by the selectboard. Many towns pay minimum wage to election assistants while other towns ask for volunteers. 4. Election workers should work in bipartisan pairs. When the presiding officer assigns election officials to work, he or she should assign pairs of workers, with no pair containing members from the same political party (if possible) at the polling place. 17 V.S.A. §2562. If it is not possible to assign people of different parties to work together, then the presiding officer should assign two people to work together who are not friends with each other, and who are not known to support the same candidates, so that the public would believe that each would be a check on the other. 5. Poll watchers may observe the election. In Vermont our elections are public proceedings, and so long as a person is not disruptive, he or she may observe the elections. Representatives of political parties, candidates and political committees have a right to be present and observe voters at the entrance checklist. The town clerk and presiding officers, if any, should either set out chairs, guardrails, or mark with tape where the poll watchers can be located to observe. They have a right to hear the name of each voter restated by the entrance checklist election official. 6. Presiding officer should make rules for poll watchers. Presiding officers have the right to make reasonable rules to control the activities of poll watchers. These include no use of cell phones in the polling place; no talking that interrupts the work of the election officials, etc. We suggest that presiding officers develop written policies for poll watcher conduct at the polls and ask all poll watchers to sign the policy indicating that they have read and understand them. 7. There is a limited right to challenge voters in Vermont. Political parties, candidates and political committees have a right to challenge a voter’s right to vote on only two grounds: 1) that a voter has already voted in the same election or 2) that the voter is not, in fact, the person whose name appears on the checklist. 17 V.S.A. §2564. These are the only two reasons that can be used to challenge a voter on election day. If a voter is challenged for one of these two reasons, then the BCA must convene immediately to informally hear the facts and rule on the matter at the polling place. 17 V.S.A. §2564. 8. Parties have the right to view the checklist in small towns. In polling places with 500 or fewer names on the checklist, political parties, candidates and political committees have a right to view the checklist twice during the election day at times convenient to election officials if prior written requests were made at least 12 hours before the polls open. 17 V.S.A. §2572. 9. No one may interfere with voters coming into or out of the polling place. Vermont law provides that the presiding officer must ensure that no one hinders or interferes with the progress of any voter to and from the polling place. 17 V.S.A. §2508. The statute does not provide a specific distance that campaigners or exit pollsters must be from the polling place. There is NO SPECIFIC NUMBER OF FEET or limit in Vermont law for the physical distance that a candidate or supporter must stay from the polling place. Rather, the presiding officer must establish a policy that makes sense for the particular polling place, and then show candidates and supporters where they can stand outside each polling place so that voters can enter and leave without interference. Note that the limits may not be too distant from the polling place as the candidates and campaigns have a First Amendment right to be there. 17 V.S.A. §2508. 10. There is no politicking in the polling place. Within the building containing a polling place, the presiding officer is responsible for ensuring that no campaign literature, stickers, buttons, name stamps, information on candidates or other political materials are placed, handed out, displayed or allowed to remain. 17 V.S.A. §2508. The presiding officer is also responsible for ensuring that no candidate, election official or other person solicits voters or otherwise campaigns in the polling place. 17 V.S.A. § 2508. Voters wearing buttons or stickers should be asked politely to remove them while inside the polling place. 11. Voters may bring in material to help him or her vote. Any voter may bring a small card or folded paper to remind the voter how he or she wants to vote, or a label or sticker to affix it to the ballot to vote for a write-in candidate so long as the voter is not displaying his paper or label to others in the room. 17 V.S.A. §2587(e). It is wise to ask one election worker per shift to check the polling booths regularly to make sure that no political materials have been left inside the booths. 12. Justices of the peace take office in February. Although justices of the peace will be elected on November 7, 2006, the term of office for the newly elected JP does not begin until February 1, 2007. A person elected as a JP can take the oath and return the oath of office to the town clerk at any time after receipt of the Certificate of Election, but the newly elected JP cannot perform any duties of a JP until February 1, 2007. 13. Town can require property owners to connect to public sewer system. If a town or city extends its sewer system, it can adopt an ordinance to require that all adjacent property owners connect to the public system and abandon private septic systems. 24 V.S.A.§3509. The sewage commissioners may require the owners of buildings, subdivisions or developments abutting a public street connected to the municipal sewage system. 14. Interest on overdue water or sewer bills can only be charged if approved by voters. Water or sewer commissioners can charge interest on delinquent payments for water and/or sewer ONLY if the voters of the municipality have approved an article in the warning to collect interest on overdue water or sewer bills. 24 V.S.A. §5151 and 32 V.S.A. §5136. The article must be voted in the same manner as the vote to collect interest on delinquent taxes, and likewise stays in effect until voted otherwise at a subsequent meeting. 15. The majority of planning commissioners must live in town. The majority of members of a planning commission must reside in town; however, the selectboard can appoint members from outside of town. The statutes allow non-residents to serve in order to allow the planning commission to have members with special expertise from outside of town. 24 V.S.A. §4322. 16. A member of a planning commission may be removed by the selectboard. A member of a planning commission may be removed at any time by the unanimous vote of the selectboard. The statute does not require that planning commissioners only be removed for cause. 24 V.S.A.§4323(a). Note that elected commissioners cannot be removed by action of the selectboard. 17. Members of the development review board are not required to reside in town. There is no statutory requirement that members of the development review board (DRB) reside in town. In addition, the selectboard can appoint all or some members of the planning commission to serve on the DRB or can appoint entirely different citizens. 24 V.S.A.§4461(a). 18. A proposed zoning by-law, amendment or repeal must be adopted in its entirety according to the procedures set out in 24 V.S.A. §4442. Citizens cannot petition to have a proposed by-law voted on separately section by section. However, 5 percent of the legal voters of the town can petition the planning commission to ask for amendment(s) to any section or repeal of any section(s) of the zoning bylaw. 24. V.S.A.§4441(b). 19. A vote of the majority of the board is required for selectboard action. A selectboard must have a majority of the full board vote in favor of a motion in order to pass the motion even if some members of the board are absent or have recused themselves. 1 V.S.A.§172. For example, if you have a five member selectboard, at least three members must vote in favor of a motion for it to pass. If only three members are present and voting, then all three members must vote in favor of the motion in order to take action. 20. A vote of the majority of those present is required for schoolboard action. School boards operate under a special statute, 16 V.S.A. §554, that changes the general rule for board voting so that a school board needs a quorum (majority of the board) to be present, but then only requires the majority of those present to vote in favor of a motion for the motion to pass. For example, on a union high school board composed of 15 total members, if only nine members are present at a meeting, only five members need to vote in favor of a motion for it to pass. 21. Local candidate petitions for office for town meeting must be specific. When candidates petition to get on the ballot for local office in municipalities that use the Australian ballot system for election of officers, the petition must clearly indicate the office and the term length for the office the candidate is seeking (particularly when there is more than one position open with different terms of office). 17 V.S.A. § 2681(b). A candidate cannot circulate a petition for signatures without a term length or without an office and then add or change the term length or office after signatures have been obtained. For example, a candidate cannot circulate a petition for selectboard without indicating which term he or she is seeking. However, it is permissible for a person to circulate two or three different petitions for selectboard, one petition for the one year seat, one for the remaining year of a three year term, and one for the three year term, and then wait until the filing deadline to decide which petition to submit to the town clerk.
In our monthly Opinions, we provide what we believe the law requires based upon our legal judgment, years of observing Vermont's local government practices, and Vermont Court decisions. This information is intended as a reference guide only and should not replace the advice of legal counsel. Table of Contents | Past Issues of Opinions | Secretary of State's Homepage
NOVEMBER 2006 7 GENERAL ELECTION DAY 17:2103(15) 11 Veterans Day. 1:371(a) 23 Thanksgiving Day. 1:371(a) DECEMBER 2006
The Municipal Calendar is provided by the Vermont League of Cities and Towns/Chittenden Bank.
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
On the Road to the Election |
||||
|
VERMONT VOTES FOR KIDS November 7 is just around the corner! Now that the election is almost here, we want to send a big thank you in advance to all of the town officials and schools that are participating in Vermont Votes For Kids. Our records show that approximately 100 Vermont schools have signed up to have mock elections this year. Many more used our Vermont Votes For Kids curriculum in some way to help their students learn more about how democracy works. Research has shown that when kids are involved in the election process their parents become more engaged as well – and vote in higher numbers! Thanks for all you are doing to educate our Vermont students and make them feel part of the political process. YOUR VOTE IS YOUR VOICE We’ve been seeing lots of bumper stickers and buttons around Vermont proclaiming Your Vote is Your Voice. We hope that message resonates with the public enough to increase voter turnout! If you have any supplies of buttons and bumper stickers left just save them for the next round of elections. Thanks! VOTE-BY-PHONE AT THE POLLS We anticipate that the first year of Vote-by-Phone at the polls will be a success! Thanks to you and your poll workers for learning this new voting technology and ensuring that Vote-by-Phone runs smoothly on November 7. We’ve heard from a number of disability advocates and disabled voters who are looking forward to the opportunity to cast their vote privately and independently at the polls. HONOR A VET WITH YOUR VOTE We also want to acknowledge the contributions of the town clerk’s offices in helping to make the Honor A Vet With Your Vote program a success this election season. Many towns made vet buttons available to the public and we anticipate that lots of bright red buttons will show up on coat lapels when voters come to the polls. Thanks for your work in honoring our nation’s veterans as Vermonters exercise their right to vote. For more information about any of these programs, please contact Janel Johnson at jjohnson@sec.state.vt.us or (802) 828-1296. Table of Contents | Past Issues of Opinions | Secretary of State's Homepage
|
||||
|
November 2, 2006
Municipal Budgeting and Finance Vermont College, Montpelier Jessica Hill (VLCT) 802-229-9111
November 14, 2006 Planning for Ancient Highways Vermont Interactive TV Jessica Hill (VLCT) 802-229-9111 Table of Contents | Past Issues of Opinions | Secretary of State's Homepage |
||||
|
November is Hunting Season – Not Just Election Season
Town officials may want to consider creating a listing of all of the posted land in your town. This is a public service to your citizens who hunt and also to your landowners who have posted land. The serious hunters do want to know who has their land posted so they do not mistakenly enter the posted land. It can be done as a excel spreadsheet so you can sort it alphabetically. I include the name of the landowner, location and number of acres. Clyde Jenne - VMCTA President P.O. Box 349 Hartland, VT 05048 Table of Contents | Past Issues of Opinions | Secretary of State's Homepage
|
||||
|
NOVEMBER 2006 November 2 (Thursday) - Last day for Town Clerk to forward to the Board of Civil Authority a list of voters added to the checklist (at least five days before election). 17 V.S.A. § 2144b(d) November 4 (Saturday) - Last day for the board of civil authority to designate pairs of justices of the peace, assuring political balance in each pair, to deliver early or absentee ballots to ill and physically disabled voters (not later than three days before the election). 17 V.S.A. § 2538(a) November 6 (Monday) - Voters, family members, authorized persons, or health care providers may request early or absentee ballots until 5:00 p.m. or the closing of the town clerk’s office. 17 V.S.A. § 2531(a) Clerks must make a list of early or absentee voters available upon request in their offices. 17 V.S.A. § 2534 The presiding officer of each polling place must also post a copy of the warning and notice, sample ballots and the current checklist in a conspicuous place in each polling place before the polls open on election day. 17 V.S.A. § 2523(a) The presiding officer shall also ensure that signs informing voters of procedures for depositing ballots are placed on or near the ballot boxes before the polls open on election day. 17 V.S.A. § 2523(b) November 7 (Tuesday) - GENERAL ELECTION DAY - Clerks must make a copy of all early or absentee voters available at their office and in each polling place as soon as it opens. 17 V.S.A. § 2534 November 9 (Thursday) - In a manner prescribed by the Secretary of State and within 48 hours of the close of polls, the town clerk shall deliver one certified copy of the official return of vote to the secretary of state, representative district clerk, senatorial district clerk and county clerk. 17 V.S.A. § 2588 PLEASE OVERNIGHT YOUR OFFICIAL RETURNS (ORV) TO THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE, 26 Terrace Street, Montpelier, VT 05609-1101. November 14 (Tuesday) - At 10:00 a.m. all canvassing committees (statewide, county, senatorial, and representative) must meet to tally returns. 17 V.S.A. § 2592(g) and (h) The committee shall prepare certificates of election and send or deliver these to the candidates elected, except the statewide committee shall prepare the certificates but not sign them. Each canvassing committee shall also file a canvassing report of its findings with the Secretary of State. 17 V.S.A. § 2592 (m) November 17 (Friday) - Deadline for filing ten-day post election campaign finance reports by candidates for county office (probate judge, assistant judge, state’s attorney, sheriff, high bailiff) who have expended or received $500.00 or more. County candidates (probate judge, assistant judge, state’s attorney, sheriff, high bailiff) shall file with the county clerk with whom his or her nomination papers were filed. Copies of these reports must be forwarded by the county clerks to the secretary of state within five days of receipt. 17 V.S.A. §§ 2811. Last day for a losing candidate to request a recount (within 10 days after the election). 17 V.S.A. § 2602(b) Last day for statewide and general assembly candidates who have not made expenditures and received contributions of $500.00 or less to file statement with the Secretary of State’s office that the candidate has not made expenditures or received contributions of more than $500.00. November 22 (Wednesday) - Last day that a legal voter may contest the results of the general election (within 15 days after the election). 17 V.S.A. § 2603(c) DECEMBER 2006 December 7 (Thursday) - Last day for U.S. Congressional candidates to file FEC 30-day post-general reports (Oct. 20-Nov. 28), 2 U.S.C. § 434(a)(2). December 18 (Monday) - Deadline for filing forty-day post election campaign finance reports with the Secretary of State by candidates for statewide office, state senator, state representative, political committees, and political parties who have expended or received $500.00 or more. Also deadline for filing forty-day post election campaign finance reports by county office candidates who have made expenditures or received contributions of $500.00 or more. County candidates (probate judge, assistant judge, state’s attorney, sheriff, high bailiff and justice of the peace) shall file with the county clerk with whom his or her nomination papers were filed. Copies of these reports must be forwarded by the county clerks to the Secretary of State within five days of receipt. 17 V.S.A. §§ 2811, 2821(c), 2831. If a filing deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, then the deadline shall be extended to the next business day. 17 V.S.A. § 2103(13). Candidates for the state senator or state representative must also file such reports with the clerk of the candidates’ respective senate or house district (the same clerk where the candidate files nominating petitions). 17 V.S.A. § 2811(e).
Election Day Contact Information Elections Division staff will be available from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 7, 2006.
Table of Contents | Past Issues of Opinions | Secretary of State's Homepage |
||||
|
There are elections in which everyone knows that
'the people have spoken' but they don't always know exactly what the
people have said. Kay Bailey Hutchison
Table of Contents | Past Issues of Opinions | Secretary of State's Homepage
|
||||
|
Help us
keep our mailing list up to date!
Let us know if: Send us a note via fax: 802-828-2496, Thank you for helping us keep Opinions running efficiently! Table of Contents | Past Issues of Opinions | Secretary of State's Homepage |
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
Need Help With A Web Site Technical Issue, Contact The Webmaster At: Webmaster@sec.state.vt.us
To Contact This Page's Content Editor Contact Ginny Colbert At: gcolbert@sec.state.vt.us
|
SOS Home |
State of Vermont
Home |
VT Law
| Databases |