Elections

Petitioning Your Local Government for Reconsideration of an Article from the Annual Town Meeting or A Special Meeting

• Whether an article is voted on the floor or by Australian ballot, any voter that does not like the outcome of the vote on an article may file a petition containing signatures of 5% of the legal voters of the town with the Legislative Body within 30 days of the vote, asking for reconsideration of the article at a special town meeting. 17 V.S.A. § 2661. The selectboard or school board must set a special meeting to reconsider the article within sixty days of receiving the petition.

• Voters can only force the reconsideration of an article by petition once within a period of one year from the first vote. However, the Legislative body (Selectboard or School board) can call a special meeting to reconsider any article except bonding proposals as many times as the board desires. Bond proposal articles can only be submitted to the voters twice within twelve months.

• Sample Language for Petition for Reconsideration:

We the undersigned legal voters of the Town of _____________ hereby request that the Legislative Body (Selectboard or School board) call a special meeting to have the voters reconsider the following article(s):

"Article 1. Shall the Town of ___________," then restate the article exactly as it was stated in the original warning.