Elections & Campaign Finance Division

Statewide Primary Election is August 28, 2012
Major Parties (Democratic, Progressive, Republican)
       Candidate petitions of nomination and consent forms must be filed no sooner than Tuesday, May 29, 2012 and no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 14, 2012. 

General Election is November 6, 2012
Minor Parties (Libertarian, Liberty Union, Working Families)
      Statements of nomination and consent forms must be filed by the designated political party committee no sooner than Tuesday, May 29, 2012 and no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 14, 2012. 

Independent Candidates (including Justice of the Peace)
      Candidate petitions of nomination and consent forms must be filed no sooner than Tuesday, May 29, 2012 and no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 14, 2012. 

Justices of the Peace:
       Information on Nominations for Justice of the Peace Independent JPs must file no sooner than
Tuesday, May 29, 2012 and no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 14, 2012.
       Party Nominations must be filed no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, August 31, 2012. 

Offices to be elected in 2012: President, U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer, Secretary of State, Auditor of Accounts, Attorney General, ALL (30) State Senate seats, ALL (150) State Representative seats, High Bailiff and Justices of the Peace. 

All candidates: You MUST file your Consent of Candidate form at the same time as your nomination paperwork (petitions). This applies to major party candidates in the Primary Election, independent candidates in the General Election and candidates nominated by party caucus (except major party candidates for Justice of the Peace). 

Number of Signatures Required - MAJOR PARTY Candidates

Number of Signatures Required – INDEPENDENT Candidates

You MUST fill out the petition heading before seeking signatures. When obtaining signatures on a petition, you must fill in the name of the office (i.e. governor, state representative, etc.) you are seeking BEFORE having voters sign. For state senate and state representative, you must fill in the district name, for example Washington 3-2 or Caledonia Senate District. You can add the names of the towns in the district if you choose, but if you do not also include the district name your petition will not be accepted. 

Don't start too early. Although Vermont statute is silent on when to start collecting signatures on a petition, if you obtain signatures too far in advance, some of those signors may move from the town they lived in when they originally signed the petition, invalidating the signature. 

Get extra signatures. It's always a good idea to obtain more than the minimum number of signatures, as some signatures may not be valid. 

MINOR PARTY NOMINATION

For the 2012 election cycle, all minor parties organized in Vermont will be posted on the Secretary of State's website after January 1, 2012. This listing will include contact information for the party's chair and/or executive director. 

Minor party candidates do not participate in the primary elections. Instead, minor party state committees meet to nominate candidates. The chair of the committee sets a date, time and place for the meeting and gives five days' notice to all members of the committee. If the chair of the committee has not called a meeting then any three members of the committee may set the date, time and place of meeting. 

The committee then files a statement of nomination with the secretary of state. An original signed copy of the consent of candidate form for each candidate nominated by a minor party MUST be filed at the same time as the statement of somination or the nomination will NOT be accepted. In order to ensure that your candidate(s) will appear on the ballot, you should have the candidate(s) sign the consent of candidate form(s) at the meeting to nominate.