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WARNING
-- VERMONT PRIMARY ELECTION -- SEPTEMBER 9, 2008
A statewide Primary Election will be held on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2008 to vote for candidates for the following offices:
The polls will open at 7:00 a.m. and will close at 7:00 p.m. The polling place is located at the Waitsfield Elementary School. CHECKLIST: posted at town clerk's office by August 10, 2008. If your name is not on it, then you must register to vote. SAMPLE BALLOTS POSTED: August 20, 2008. PARTY CHOICE: You don’t have to tell which party you favor, but you can only vote for candidates on one party ballot in the primary election. (There is no voter registration by party in Vermont.) EARLY or ABSENTEE BALLOTS: You can request early absentee ballots at any time during the election year. The latest you can request ballots for the Primary is the close of the town clerk's office on September 8, 2008. You or a family member can request early ballots in person, in writing or by telephone. An authorized person can request ballots for you in writing. Ways of voting early absentee in the 30 days before the election:
2. Voter may take the ballots out of the clerk's office for himself and return in same manner as if the ballots were received by mail. 3. Have ballot mailed to you and return it to clerk's office before Election Day or to polling place before 7 p.m. on Election Day. 4. If you are sick or disabled, you may ask the town clerk on or before September 5, 2008, to have two justices of the peace bring a ballot to you at your home on any of the eight days preceding the day of the election or the day of election. CASTING A PROVISIONAL BALLOT: If you accept the offer to vote a provisional ballot, you must complete a sworn affidavit on the provisional ballot envelope swearing that you are qualified to vote in Vermont and in the polling place where you are, and that you submitted an application to register to vote before the deadline. You will be given a card explaining how you can find out if your ballot was counted one week after the election by calling the Vermont Secretary of State's Office at 1-800-439-8683. If your name was dropped from the checklist in error, or has not been added even though you submitted an application before the deadline for applications: Explain the situation to your town clerk or presiding officer and ask that your name be added to the checklist today. The town clerk or presiding officer will investigate the situation and then either have you complete a sworn affidavit and then add your name to the checklist or explain why you cannot be added. If the town clerk or presiding officer cannot determine that you are entitled to be added to the checklist on Election Day, you may appeal to a superior court judge, who will give you a decision on Election Day OR you may vote a provisional ballot. It is your choice. Any voter who wants assistance for any reason may bring the person of his or her choice into the voting booth to help or may ask for assistance from two election officials. Voters who cannot get from the car into the polling place may have a ballot brought to a car outside the polls by two election officials. Any U. S. citizen and resident of a Vermont town or city who submitted an application to register to vote before the deadline is entitled to vote regardless of race or physical ability. THE LAW PROHIBITS THE FOLLOWING--DO NOT:
• Mislead the board of civil authority about your own or another person's eligibility to vote. • Socialize in a manner that will disturb other voters inside the polling place. • Offer bribe, threaten, or intimidate a person to vote for a candidate. • Hinder or interfere with the progress of a voter going into or from a polling place. Vermont law provides that a person cannot campaign within a polling place, but does NOT specify any number of feet that campaigners need to be away from the polls outside. The Presiding Officer will set reasonable rules for where campaigners can stand. If you have any questions, or need assistance while voting, ask your town clerk or any election official for help. If you do not understand something, or you believe a mistake has been made that has not been corrected, or you have a question that cannot be answered to your satisfaction at the polling place: Call the Elections Division, Office of the
Secretary of State
1-800-439-VOTE (439-8683) (Accessible by TDD) If you believe that any of your voting rights have been violated, you may call the Elections Division at 800-439-8683 or (802) 828-2464. You may also file an Administrative Complaint with the Secretary of State’s Office, 26 Terrace Street, Montpelier, VT 05609-1101. If you believe you have witnessed efforts to commit any kind of fraud or corruption in the voting process, you may report this to your local United States Attorney’s Office, the County State’s Attorney or the Vermont Attorney General. If you have witnessed actual or attempted acts of discrimination or intimidation in the voting process, you may report this to the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice at (800) 253-3931. VOTING PROCESS--INSTRUCTIONS FOR VOTERS
• Go to the entrance checklist table, give your name, and if asked, your street address to the election official in a loud voice. • Wait until your name is repeated and checked off by the official. • If you want to use the new Vote-by-Telephone voting system to hear an audio ballot instead of marking a paper ballot, tell the entrance checklist official at this time. An election official will take you to a tabletop voting booth with the telephone, will call the system, enter a security code and a ballot code, and then hand the telephone to you for you to press any number to begin voting. More details about how you can practice and preview this telephone voting system are available on our website at http://www.sec.state.vt.us, click on Elections, then click on Voters, then click on Vote-by-Telephone. • Take the 4 ballots from the election official and enter a voting booth. In a Primary Election, you may vote for candidates of ONLY 1 Party on only 1 ballot, or your vote will not count. Once inside the voting booth, decide which PARTY Ballot you want to vote. • To vote for a candidate, fill in the oval to the right of the name of the candidate. Do not vote for more candidates than the “Vote for not more than #” for each or office. If you vote for more than the “Vote for not more than #,” your vote will not count for that race. • WRITE-IN candidate(s). To vote for someone whose name is not printed on the ballot, use the blank "write-in" line on the ballot and either write in the name or paste on a sticker, then fill in the oval. • If you make a mistake or change your mind, DO NOT try to erase. Return your spoiled ballot and ASK an election official for a new ballot. If you make a mistake again, you may ask for another ballot and you may want to ask for assistance. Each voter may have up to 3 ballots. • After completing your ballot, fold the 3 unvoted ballots in half and give the unvoted ballots to an election official to be deposited in the “Unvoted Ballots” ballot box. • To cast your voted ballot: either insert your voted ballot into the tabulating machine, or in a hand count town, fold your voted ballot and insert it into the ballot box. • Go to the exit checklist table, if any, and state your name. Wait until your name is repeated and checked off by the official. • Leave the voting area immediately by passing outside the guardrail. • All voters who are in line at the polling place at 7 p.m. will be permitted to vote. No voter can enter the polling place to vote after 7 p.m. Links (Documents and outside links will open in a separate window)
Contacts
Updated September 12, 2008
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