//Run for office · Vermont

How to run for local office in Vermont

Vermont mails every active voter a ballot for the November general election, but your selectboard or school board race is decided on Town Meeting Day, the first Tuesday in March, with ballots voters have to request.

Facts checked against official sources · September 9, 2026

Vermont local government is the town. Selectboards, school boards, town clerks, listers, and justices of the peace are elected at the annual town meeting on the first Tuesday in March, either from the floor or by Australian ballot, depending on what the town has voted to do. Counties elect only a handful of officers (sheriff, state's attorney, assistant judges, probate judge) and have no county council or county election office, so the town clerk is your election official for everything local.

The Secretary of State keeps the statewide voter checklist and gives it away free on a signed affidavit, which makes Vermont one of the cheapest states in which to build a voter file. Campaign finance is light-touch for local candidates: you register and report only once you raise or spend $500, and the contribution limit is $1,290 per election cycle. Registration is same-day, and while general-election ballots go to every active voter automatically, town meeting ballots must be requested from the clerk.

Election authority: Vermont Secretary of State, Elections Division
Voter file: Public record — anyone can obtain it · Free; the Secretary of State charges nothing for the statewide checklist (Elections Division voter registration FAQ, checked 2026-09-09)
Campaign finance: Vermont Campaign Finance System (campaignfinance.vermont.gov) (Vermont Secretary of State, Elections Division (Campaign Finance))
How voters vote: Every registered voter is mailed a ballot
Registration deadline: None. Eligible Vermonters may register any day up to and including election day, at the clerk's office, online, or at the polls
Local offices: Nonpartisan in practice. Local offices are filled by petition, and while 17 V.S.A. 2681 lets a party file an endorsement with the petition, town meeting ballots generally carry no party labels.

Who runs elections in Vermont

Vermont Secretary of State, Elections Division The Elections Division maintains the statewide voter checklist, runs the Vermont Voter Portal, mails general-election ballots to every active voter, operates the Campaign Finance System where local candidates who cross the $500 threshold file, and publishes the petition and consent forms for local office. Town clerks receive the petitions, run town meeting, and issue early voter absentee ballots.

Town and city clerks register voters (adding, changing, and removing entries on their town's portion of the statewide checklist), receive nominating petitions and consent forms for local office, issue and receive early voter absentee ballots, and run the polls at town meeting with the board of civil authority. Vermont has no county election offices.

Getting the Vermont voter file

The voter file is the list of every registered voter, with the fields a campaign needs to target: address, party where the state records it, and vote history. In Vermont it comes from Vermont Secretary of State, Elections Division (statewide voter checklist); town clerks (municipal checklist).

Access: Public record — anyone can obtain it
Cost: Free; the Secretary of State charges nothing for the statewide checklist (Elections Division voter registration FAQ, checked 2026-09-09)
Format: Electronic file emailed by the Elections Division, with a .TXT option on the request form
Vote history: Not confirmed
Phone numbers: Not included
Updated: Issued monthly; the request form lets you take a one-time file at the next monthly issuing or join the monthly email list

Who can get it: Any person who signs the Request for Electronic Copy of the Vermont Statewide Checklist affidavit, swearing under penalty of perjury not to use it for commercial purposes and not to disclose it to a foreign government or federal agency for prohibited purposes (17 V.S.A. 2154(c)). Return the form to the Elections Division by email (sos.elections@vermont.gov) or mail.

Permitted use: No commercial use and no disclosure to foreign governments or federal agencies for voter registration, public disclosure, or database matching (17 V.S.A. 2154). Reselling or licensing the file to third parties can make you a data broker under 9 V.S.A. 2430, which requires registration.

County option: There is no county checklist. For a single-town race, your town clerk maintains the town's portion of the statewide checklist and can provide it; the free statewide file is the easy alternative and can be filtered to your town.

Month and day of birth, driver's license number, telephone number, email address, and the last four Social Security digits are confidential and never included (17 V.S.A. 2154(b)).
The Elections Division contact for checklist requests is 802-828-2363.

Whatever file you get, Culper imports it as a CSV and maps the columns for you. See how to read a voter file for what the fields mean.

Filing to run for local office in Vermont

In a town that elects officers by Australian ballot, you get on the ballot by petition. Pick up the petition and consent forms from the town clerk (or the Secretary of State's local candidates page), print your name exactly as it appears on the checklist and the office and term length, gather signatures, and file the petition and a signed consent form with the town clerk by 5 p.m. on the sixth Monday before the election (17 V.S.A. 2681). You must be registered to vote in the town when you file. Towns that elect officers from the floor at town meeting nominate and vote at the meeting itself.

File with: Town or city clerk (municipal offices); the union or unified school district clerk for school district director seats
Filing fee: Confirm with the filing officer
Petition: At least 30 valid signatures of voters of the municipality or 1% of the town's legal voters, whichever is less, with only one candidate per petition and the office and term length written on the petition before it circulates (17 V.S.A. 2681(b)).
Partisan?: Nonpartisan in practice. Local offices are filled by petition, and while 17 V.S.A. 2681 lets a party file an endorsement with the petition, town meeting ballots generally carry no party labels.

Filing window: Petitions and consents are due to the municipal clerk by 5 p.m. on the sixth Monday preceding the election (17 V.S.A. 2681). Town meeting is the first Tuesday in March (17 V.S.A. 2640), so for March 2, 2027 the deadline is Monday January 25, 2027, and a nominee may withdraw in writing until 5 p.m. on the Wednesday after the deadline (January 27, 2027). Local elections held on other dates use the same six-Monday offset.

Key Vermont dates
What	When	Note
Petition and consent forms due to town clerk, March 2027 town meeting	January 25, 2027	5 p.m. on the sixth Monday preceding the March 2, 2027 election (17 V.S.A. 2681). Bring 30 signatures or 1% of the checklist, whichever is less.
Last day to withdraw a nomination	January 27, 2027	5 p.m. on the Wednesday after the filing deadline, in writing to the municipal clerk (17 V.S.A. 2681(d)).
First campaign finance report (candidates over $500)	January 31, 2027	30 days before the election (17 V.S.A. 2968); later reports February 20, February 26, and March 16, 2027, final by April 11, 2027.
Town Meeting Day (annual meeting and Australian ballot vote)	March 2, 2027	First Tuesday in March (17 V.S.A. 2640). Early voter absentee ballots for local elections are available about 20 days before.

Your name appears on the ballot exactly as written on the consent form, so match the checklist spelling on both documents.

Campaign finance rules in Vermont

State-level campaign finance in Vermont is overseen by Vermont Secretary of State, Elections Division (Campaign Finance) through Vermont Campaign Finance System (campaignfinance.vermont.gov).

Where local candidates file: Candidates for local office file online with the Secretary of State in the Campaign Finance System, not with the town. You must register and report only if you have made expenditures or accepted contributions of $500 or more since the last local election for that office, or rolled over surplus from a prior campaign (17 V.S.A. 2968; Campaign Finance Guide, January 2026). Local candidates who never reach $500 and have no rollover do not register or file at all. Political committees influencing local elections register at $1,000.

Contribution limits: A candidate for local office may accept no more than $1,290 per election cycle from a single source or from a political committee, and unlimited amounts from a political party (Secretary of State's 2025-2026 inflation-adjusted figure under 17 V.S.A. 2905; the base amount in 17 V.S.A. 2941 is $1,000). The local election cycle runs from 38 days after the previous local election for the office to 38 days after the next one. A candidate may contribute unlimited personal funds.

Reporting: Local candidates who cross the $500 threshold file reports 30 days before, 10 days before, and 4 days before the local election, two weeks after it, and a final report within 40 days after it (17 V.S.A. 2968). Reports are due by 11:59 p.m., and each period cuts off three days before the due date (17 V.S.A. 2963).

For the March 2, 2027 town meeting the report dates are January 31, February 20, February 26, and March 16, 2027, with the final report due by April 11, 2027.
Contributions over $100 are itemized with the contributor's name, town of residence, and mailing address (17 V.S.A. 2963).

Limits and thresholds change. Treat the figures here as a starting point and confirm the current schedule with Vermont Secretary of State, Elections Division (Campaign Finance) before you accept a check. Our campaign finance basics guide covers the bookkeeping every local candidate needs on day one.

How voting works in Vermont

Every registered voter is mailed a ballot. For every November general election, the Secretary of State mails a ballot with a postage-paid return envelope to every active voter on the statewide checklist, starting no later than 43 days before the election and finishing by October 1 (17 V.S.A. 2537a). That is the only election with automatic mailing: for town meeting, other local elections, and the August primary, a voter must request an early voter absentee ballot from the town clerk or vote in person. Town meeting towns may also decide questions from the floor rather than by ballot.

Early voting: Any voter may vote early in the town clerk's office or request an early voter absentee ballot by phone, in person, or in writing up to 5 p.m. (or the close of the clerk's office) on the day before the election. Ballots for local elections by Australian ballot are available about 20 days before the election (Secretary of State early and absentee voting page).
Mail ballots: Automatic for the general election only. For town meeting and other local elections, request a ballot from the town clerk; return it to the clerk's office by the close of business the day before the election, to a town drop box by the close of business the day before, by mail so it arrives before the polls close, or by hand to the polling place before 7 p.m. on election day (17 V.S.A. 2543). Candidates and their paid staff may not return other voters' ballots.
Registration deadline: None. Eligible Vermonters may register any day up to and including election day, at the clerk's office, online, or at the polls
Same-day registration: Yes

Knowing who has already voted: The town clerk is the source. Beginning 45 days before the election, as each returned ballot arrives the clerk's election officials check the voter's name off the entrance checklist and record the ballot as received and accepted (or defective) in the statewide online election management system (17 V.S.A. 2546). Ask the clerk for the list of voters checked off as having returned early ballots and refresh it in the final two weeks before town meeting. Individual voters can see their own ballot status, including the date it was mailed, on the Vermont Voter Portal at vote.vermont.gov.

In a vote-by-mail state the campaign is won during the return window, not on election day. Read ballot chase in vote-by-mail states for how to work the returned-ballot list every day.

Local government in Vermont: what you can run for

Vermont's towns and cities are the unit of local government. Each town elects a selectboard (a city council in cities), a town clerk, a treasurer, listers, auditors, and justices of the peace, and votes on the budget at the annual town meeting, either from the floor or by Australian ballot. School boards are elected for the town or, more often, for a unified or union school district covering several towns. Incorporated villages inside towns elect their own trustees. Counties have no legislative body and no election office; they elect a sheriff, state's attorney, two assistant judges, a probate judge, and a high bailiff at the state general election.

Selectboard member
City council member
School board (district director)
Town moderator
Town clerk
Town treasurer
Lister
Auditor
Justice of the peace
Library trustee
Cemetery commissioner
Village trustee
Assistant judge (county)

When local elections happen: The annual town meeting is held on the first Tuesday in March (17 V.S.A. 2640); towns may start floor business on one of the three preceding days, but Australian ballot voting happens on Town Meeting Day. Justices of the peace and county officers are elected at the November general election in even years. Local elections are never on the same ballot as the August primary.

Running your Vermont campaign on Culper

Culper does not license voter data in Vermont today. You upload the Vermont voter file described above as a CSV, and every feature runs on it: search and lists, plain-English queries, texting and email, block walking, and volunteer coordination. Online donation processing is in development; ask about timing on the onboarding call. Your file stays in your campaign's workspace and is never shared with another campaign.

Set up your Vermont campaign in an afternoon

Upload the voter file, ask for your first list in plain English, and hand your volunteers the walking app. Signup is open to candidates in every state. Pricing is set after a short call so it matches the size of the race.

Get started Book a demo

Vermont questions we get asked

How much does the Vermont voter checklist cost?

Nothing. The Vermont Secretary of State provides the statewide voter checklist free to anyone who signs the request affidavit promising no commercial use and no disclosure to foreign or federal entities (17 V.S.A. 2154). You can take a one-time file or join the monthly email list, and choose a .TXT format. Phone numbers, email addresses, and full birth dates are withheld.

When do I file to run for selectboard in Vermont?

File a nominating petition and a signed consent form with your town clerk by 5 p.m. on the sixth Monday before the election (17 V.S.A. 2681). For the March 2, 2027 Vermont town meeting that is January 25, 2027. The petition needs 30 signatures of town voters or 1% of the checklist, whichever is less, and you must already be registered to vote in the town.

Do Vermont local candidates have to file campaign finance reports?

Only if you raise or spend $500 or more since the last election for the office, or roll over surplus from a prior campaign (17 V.S.A. 2968). Then you register and file in the Vermont Campaign Finance System 30, 10, and 4 days before the local election, two weeks after, and a final report within 40 days. Below $500 there is nothing to file.

What is the contribution limit for a Vermont town or school board race?

$1,290 per election cycle from any single source or PAC, the Secretary of State's 2025-2026 inflation-adjusted figure for local office under 17 V.S.A. 2941 and 2905. Political parties may give unlimited amounts, and a Vermont candidate may spend unlimited personal funds.

Does Vermont mail ballots to everyone for town meeting?

No. Automatic mailing under 17 V.S.A. 2537a applies only to the November general election, when every active voter gets a ballot by October 1. For Vermont town meeting and other local elections, a voter must request an early voter absentee ballot from the town clerk or vote in the clerk's office or at the polls, and ballots are available about 20 days out.

How do I find out who has already voted before Town Meeting Day in Vermont?

Ask the town clerk. Under 17 V.S.A. 2546 the clerk checks each returning early voter off the entrance checklist and records the ballot as received in the statewide online election management system, starting 45 days before the election. Vermont does not publish a statewide voter-level return file for local elections; individual voters can check their own status on the Vermont Voter Portal.

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Sources

Facts on this page were checked against the official sources below on September 9, 2026. Rules change between cycles; when a number here and the agency disagree, the agency is right.