Vermont

Vermont has been one of the leading states in promoting voting rights for years. This session, they further advanced pro-democracy initiatives. Vermont lawmakers passed legislation (S 107) to authorize the Vermont Secretary of State to make automatic voter registration even more accessible by adding additional agencies that register voters. The legislation also allows election clerks to accept emergency absentee ballots after the deadline, authorizes electronic delivery of absentee ballots to voters with disabilities or who are unable to vote due to an illness/injury, and expands early in-person voting.

Vermont Democrats also tried to pass legislation to make Election Day an official state holiday (H 509), allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in municipal elections (H 418), permit employees to take two-hours of leave on election day to vote (H 68).

Finally, while individuals who are incarcerated are only allowed to vote Maine and Vermont — a critical measure to protect the sanctity of the right to vote — few inmates actually exercise their right to vote. Maine and Vermont can do more in the future to ensure that voters who are incarcerated are aware of and able to exercise their right to vote.