**[Requirements for Serving as a Pollworker]{.underline}**

**[Vermont]{.underline}**

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| **[State Registration Requirement]{.underline}**                      |
|                                                                       |
| **[(Exceptions may be found in Student Election Assistant             |
| category)]{.underline}**                                              |
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| Must be a registered voter, unless approved 16 or 17 year old         |
| assistant.                                                            |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2452(a); Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2454(a) |
| (Thomson/West 2006).*                                                 |
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| **[Age Requirement]{.underline}**                                     |
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| 18 years.                                                             |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2121(4) (Thomson/West 2006).*              |
|                                                                       |
| 16 or 17 as assistant elections officers.                             |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2454(a) (Thomson/West 2006).*              |
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| **[Residency Place and Term Required for Voter                        |
| Registration]{.underline}**                                           |
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| Must reside in municipality, and if temporarily leave have intent to  |
| return indefinitely.                                                  |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2121(2) (Thomson/West 2006).*              |
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| **[Residency Requirement for Service (State, County or                |
| Precinct)]{.underline}**                                              |
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| Must reside in Voting District, except in larger municipalities where |
| districts can be combined for improved administration.                |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2452(a); Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2454(a) |
| (Thomson/West 2006).*                                                 |
|                                                                       |
| The only exception to residency is that an assistant town clerk may   |
| serve as an assistant elections officer, regardless of his or her     |
| residence.                                                            |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2454(a) (Thomson/West 2006).*              |
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| **[Affiliation with Political Party Requirement]{.underline}**        |
|                                                                       |
| **[and Process for Nomination as Poll Worker]{.underline}**           |
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| Affiliation Considered for Assistant Election Officers.               |
|                                                                       |
| The town clerk shall be the presiding officer unless the town by vote |
| at an annual meeting or by charter shall provide otherwise. If the    |
| regular presiding officer is unavailable or unable to preside at any  |
| given election, then the board of civil authority shall promptly      |
| appoint a voter of the town to serve as the presiding officer at that |
| election.                                                             |
|                                                                       |
| If more than one polling place is used, the board shall appoint a     |
| presiding officer for each additional polling place.                  |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2452 (Thomson/West 2006).*                 |
|                                                                       |
| The board of civil authority appoints the assistant election officers |
| prior to the election. As far as possible, the board shall attempt to |
| appoint an equal number of persons from each major political party.   |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2454 (Thomson/West 2006).*                 |
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| **[Term Requirements]{.underline}**                                   |
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| There are no set terms for presiding officers. Generally the town     |
| clerk serves as long as he or she is town clerk. Town clerks can be   |
| elected to 1 year or 3 year terms.                                    |
|                                                                       |
| No more than 2 years for presiding officers for additional polling    |
| places.                                                               |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2452(b) (Thomson/West 2006).*              |
|                                                                       |
| Assistant election officers appear to serve for election to which     |
| appointed.                                                            |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2454(A) (Thomson/West 2006).*              |
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| **[Compensation and Hour Requirements]{.underline}**                  |
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| The presiding election officer shall notify each election official of |
| the hours when he shall be present to work at the polls.              |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2455 (Thomson/West 2006).*                 |
|                                                                       |
| Compensation is set by local legislative body and varies from         |
| volunteers, to minimum wage, to higher hourly wages, to stipends for  |
| a shift or stipends for all day.                                      |
|                                                                       |
| *Kathy DeWolfe, Director of Elections and Campaign Finance, 2006.*    |
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| **[Training, Certification and Oath Requirements]{.underline}**       |
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| The secretary of state shall organize regional workshops for election |
| officials. The regular presiding officer of each town or an assistant |
| designated by the board of civil authority shall attend, at the       |
| town\'s expense, at least one of these election workshops every two   |
| years.                                                                |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2457(a) & (b) (Thomson/West 2006).*        |
|                                                                       |
| Each assistant election officer shall be sworn prior to entering on   |
| the performance of his or her duties.                                 |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2454(a) (Thomson/West 2006).*              |
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| **[Elected Public Officials Prohibited]{.underline}**                 |
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| No Information Available.                                             |
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| **[Candidates Prohibited]{.underline}**                               |
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| No person shall serve as an election official in any election in      |
| which his or her name appears on a ballot of the Australian ballot    |
| system as a candidate for any office unless he or she is the only     |
| candidate for that office, or unless the office for which he or she   |
| is a candidate is that of moderator, justice of the peace, town       |
| clerk, clerk-treasurer, ward clerk, or inspector of elections. When   |
| an Australian ballot is not used, a person shall not serve as an      |
| election official during the election to fill any office for which he |
| or she is a nominee.                                                  |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2456 & § 2538 (Thomson/West 2006).*        |
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| **[The Effect of Felon Status on Participation]{.underline}**         |
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| Felons, even incarcerated felons, do not lose their right to vote in  |
| Vermont.\                                                             |
| An incarcerated felon must register and vote in the last municipality |
| in which he or she resided in Vermont immediately prior to            |
| incarceration (not where facility is located).                        |
|                                                                       |
| There is no prohibition against felons being candidates or serving in |
| any local public office in Vermont, so a felon could serve as an      |
| election official.                                                    |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Const. Ch. II, § 42 (Thomson/West 2006).*                        |
|                                                                       |
| *Kathy DeWolfe, Director of Elections and Campaign Finance*, 2006.    |
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| **[The Effect of Mental Incapacitation on                             |
| Participation]{.underline}**                                          |
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| Prohibited if adjudicated incompetent and not restored to legal       |
| capacity.                                                             |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Stat. Ann. Tit. 18 §7705(a) (3) (Thomson/West 2006).*            |
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| **[English Fluency and Literacy Requirement]{.underline}**            |
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| No requirements.                                                      |
|                                                                       |
| *Kathy DeWolfe, Director of Elections and Campaign Finance, 2006.*    |
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| **[Good Reputation Requirement]{.underline}**                         |
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| Prohibited if not of a quiet and peaceable behavior.                  |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Const. Ch. II, § 42 (Thomson/West 2006).*                        |
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| **[Alternative Positions with Different Requirements]{.underline}**   |
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| The local Board of Civil Authority that administers elections along   |
| with the Presiding Officer is made up of all members of the local     |
| Select board (legislative body), all Justices of the Peace, and the   |
| Town Clerk. Select board members are elected at March Town Meeting    |
| for either 3 year terms (or 1 or 2 year terms if the municipality has |
| voted to have 5 Select board members instead of only 3). Justices of  |
| the Peace are elected at the General Election and serve 2 year terms  |
| starting the following February.                                      |
|                                                                       |
| *Kathy DeWolfe, Director of Elections and Campaign Finance, 2006.*    |
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| **[Student Election Assistant Statute]{.underline}**                  |
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| The board of civil authority may appoint residents of a voting        |
| district who are 16 or 17 years old to serve as assistant elections   |
| officers in their respective polling places.                          |
|                                                                       |
| *Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2454(a) (Thomson/West 2006).*              |
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