Vermont Statutes Title 17 Sec. 2538
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 17 Sec. 2538
- Board of civil authority: means , unless otherwise provided by municipal charter, in the case of a town, the selectboard and town clerk and the justices residing therein; in the case of a city, the mayor, aldermen, city clerk, and justices residing therein; in the case of a village, the trustees, village clerk, and the justices residing therein; and, in any case, such suitable member or members of unrepresented or insufficiently represented political parties as may be appointed members of the board of civil authority under the provisions of section 2143 of this title. See
- Candidate: means an individual who has taken any affirmative action to become a candidate for public office. See
- Early or absentee voter: means any voter of the State who has requested an early voter absentee ballot as provided in chapter 51, subchapter 6 of this title. See
- Election: means the procedure whereby the voters of this State, or any of its political subdivisions, select persons to fill public offices or act on public questions. See
- following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
- Person: means any individual, business entity, labor organization, public interest group, or other organization, incorporated or unincorporated. See
- Political party: is a ny group of individuals that has organized and filed its certificate of organization with the Secretary of State, pursuant to chapter 45 of this title. See
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
- Town: includes "city. See
- Town clerk: means a town officer elected pursuant to section 2646 of this title or otherwise elected or appointed by law and performing those duties prescribed by 24 Vt. See
- Voter: means an individual who is qualified to vote in an election in this State or a political subdivision of this State, and whose name is registered on the checklist of a political subdivision of the State. See
§ 2538. Delivery of ballots by justices of the peace
(a)(1) In the case of persons who are early or absentee voters due to illness, injury, or disability, ballots shall be delivered in the following manner, unless the early or absentee voter has requested pursuant to section 2539 of this subchapter that the early voter absentee ballots be mailed or electronically delivered.
(2) Not later than three days prior to the election, the board of civil authority or, upon request of the board, the town clerk, shall designate in pairs justices of the peace in numbers sufficient to deliver early voter absentee ballots to the applicants for early voter absentee ballots who have stated in their applications that they are unable to vote in person at the polling place due to illness, injury, or disability. A pair shall not consist of two justices from the same political party.
(3) If there shall not be available a sufficient number of justices to make up the required number of pairs, a member of each remaining pair shall be designated by the board, to be selected from lists of registered voters submitted by the chairs of the town committees of political parties, and from among registered voters who in written application to the board state that they are not affiliated with any political party.
(4) A candidate or spouse, parent, or child of a candidate shall not be eligible to perform the duties prescribed by this section unless the candidate involved is not disqualified by section 2456 of this chapter from serving as an election official.
(5) The compensation of justices and voters designated under this subsection shall be fixed by the board of civil authority and shall be paid by the town.
(6) The justices may, but shall not be required to, deliver ballots outside the town.
(b)(1) The town clerk shall divide the list of applicants who have an illness, injury, or disability into approximately as many equal parts as there are pairs of justices so designated, having regard to the several parts of the town in which the applicants may be found.
(2) As soon as early voter absentee ballots are available, the clerk shall deliver to each pair of justices one part of the list, together with early voter absentee ballots and envelopes for each applicant.
(3) When justices receive ballots and envelopes prior to election day, they shall receive only the ballots and envelopes they are assigned to deliver on that day.
(c)(1) Each pair of justices on the days they are assigned to deliver the ballots and envelopes shall call upon each of the early or absentee voters whose name appears on the part of the list furnished to them and shall deliver early voter absentee ballots and envelopes to each early or absentee voter.
(2) The early or absentee voter shall then proceed to mark the ballots alone or in the presence of the justices, but without exhibiting them to the justices or to any other person, except that when the early or absentee voter is blind or physically unable to mark his or her ballots, they may be marked by one of the justices in full view of the other. (Added 1977, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1979, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), § 68; 1995, No. 95 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 1997, No. 17, § 1; 2001, No. 6, § 12(a), (b), eff. April 10, 2001; 2013, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 83; 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 37; 2019, No. 67, § 14.)