Early/absentee ballots for the General Election to be held on November 6, are now available in all Vermont town clerk’s offices. Anyone wishing to vote prior to November 6, may apply for an early/absentee ballot until 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 5.
Early/absentee ballots may be voted in person in the clerk’s office, mailed to the voter by the clerk’s office, picked up by the voter or if a voter is in need can be delivered to the voter’s residence by two justices of the peace. All voted ballots must be received by the clerk before the polls close on election day in order to be counted. For more information or to request an early/absentee ballot in Brattleboro call 251-8157.
Vermont has same day voter registration. However to save time on Election Day it is advisable to get all registration forms in to the Town Clerk’s office in advance, or register to vote by going online to olvr.sec.state.vt.us.
If you are unsure if your name is listed as a registered voter in your town or for more information about voter registration and early/absentee voting, contact your town clerk. In Brattleboro, call 251-8157
Office hours for the Brattleboro Town Clerk’s office are 8:30AM – 5:00PM, Monday through Friday. In addition to regular hours, the office will open Saturday, November 3, from 9AM to noon for early voting. The Town Clerk’s office will be closed Tuesday, November 6, election day.
Brattleboro voting on November 6 only, will be held at the American Legion at 32 Linden Street. Polling hours are 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. The Current will be providing free bus service all day.
New this year we will have Accessible Voting Machines available for use, enabling voters with disabilities to vote independently. For questions about these machines, please contact our office at 251-8157.
Hilary Francis
Brattleboro Town Clerk
230 Main Street, Suite 108
Brattleboro. VT 05301
hfrancis@brattleboro.org
ph 802-251-8129
fax 802-257-2312
Please be advised that your email communication to the Town may be considered public record and may be subject to disclosure under the Vermont Open Public Records Act.
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Sample Ballot District 1 – 11 6 2018
Arrrgh!
You know what I’m going to say, right?
Don’t use early ballots if you want your local write-ins to be counted. You won’t know who is “officially” allowed to have votes counted for them until the day of the election. Voting early might result in your vote being tossed in the garbage.
Deeming someone “official” is pointless and defeats the entire purpose of a write-in vote – that is, to be able to vote for anyone, even those who didn’t run for office.
By making write-in candidates register, that makes them not write-ins but actual candidates! They just didn’t have to do all the hard work the others did, like collect a few signatures. They just walk in at the last minute and avoid the hassles.
One would think candidates who go through the full process of being a candidate would be annoyed by this shortcut. One would think the Town Clerk would see this as disenfranchising voters in Brattleboro by not counting their real choices. One would think voters would be annoyed that their legitimate write-in votes, counted in neighboring towns, aren’t being counted in Brattleboro. One would think the ACLU would criticize us, rightly, for this anti-democratic laziness.
Of course, my complaining about this has led to the Town Clerk thinking this is such a good idea that the entire state should follow Brattleboro’s lead. Dreadful! Don’t do it Vermont!