2020 Vermont Statutes
Title 17 - Elections
Chapter 51 - Conduct of Elections
§ 2502. Location of polling places
§ 2502. Location of polling places
(a) Each polling place shall be located in a public place within the town.
(b) The board of civil authority shall take such measures as are necessary to assure that voters who are elders or have a disability may conveniently and secretly cast their votes. Measures that may be taken shall include: location of polling places on the ground floor of a building; providing ramps, elevators, or other facilities for access to the polling place; providing a stencil overlay for ballots; providing a separate polling place with direct communication to the main polling place; and permitting election officials to carry a ballot to an elder or to a person who has a disability in order to permit that person to mark the ballot while in a motor vehicle adjacent to the polling place. For purposes of this subsection, the board of civil authority shall have full jurisdiction on the day of an election over the premises at which a polling place is located.
(c)(1) Thirty days prior to a local, primary, or general election, the town clerk shall submit to the Secretary of State a list of polling places within the municipality that will be used in that election. The list shall include the name of the polling location, its physical address, and the time the polling place will open.
(2)(A) A municipality may change the location of a polling place less than 30 days prior to an election only in cases of emergency. If a municipality changes the location of a polling place less than 30 days prior to the election, the town clerk shall notify the Secretary of State within 24 hours of the change and provide the new polling place information.
(B) The Secretary of State shall assist any municipality that needs to change the location of a polling place on the day of an election due to an emergency, including assisting in finding a new location and informing the public of that new location.
(C) The Secretary of State shall inform the State chairs of Vermont's major political parties of any changes made to polling places that he or she is aware of made less than 30 days prior to an election.
(3) The Secretary of State shall provide on his or her official website a list of polling places that will be used in any local, primary, or general election within the State, and shall specifically provide notice on that website of any change in the location of a municipality's polling place. (Added 1977, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1985, No. 11; 1991, No. 147 (Adj. Sess.), § 4, eff. April 25, 1992; 2003, No. 94 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2013, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 82; 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 34.)
