Vermont Statutes Title 17 Sec. 2145a
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 17 Sec. 2145a
- Election: means the procedure whereby the voters of this State, or any of its political subdivisions, select persons to fill public offices or act on public questions. See
- following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
- General election: means the election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, in even-numbered years. See
- Oath: shall include affirmation where by law an affirmation may be substituted. See
- Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
- Person: means any individual, business entity, labor organization, public interest group, or other organization, incorporated or unincorporated. See
- Primary: means any election that precedes a general or special election, for the purpose of permitting political parties to nominate, from among all of the candidates for any office, only that number of candidates equal to the number of persons to be elected to that office at the succeeding general or special election. See
- Resident: means a natural person who is domiciled in this State as evidenced by an intent to maintain a principal dwelling place in the State indefinitely and to return there if temporarily absent, coupled with an act or acts consistent with that intent. See
- Secretary: means the Secretary of State. See
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
- Town: includes "city. See
- Town clerk: means a town officer elected pursuant to section 2646 of this title or otherwise elected or appointed by law and performing those duties prescribed by 24 Vt. See
- Voter: means an individual who is qualified to vote in an election in this State or a political subdivision of this State, and whose name is registered on the checklist of a political subdivision of the State. See
§ 2145a. Registrations at the Department of Motor Vehicles
(a) An application for, or renewal of, a motor vehicle driver’s license or nondriver identification card shall serve as a simultaneous application to register to vote unless the applicant checks the box on the application designating that he or she declines to use the application as a voter registration application.
(b)(1) A motor vehicle driver’s license or nondriver identification card application shall provide and request the following information and shall be in the form approved by the Secretary of State:
(A) The applicant’s citizenship.
(B) The applicant’s place and date of birth.
(C) The applicant’s town of legal residence.
(D) The applicant’s street address or a description of the physical location of the applicant’s residence. The description must contain sufficient information so that the town clerk can determine whether the applicant is a resident of the town.
(E) The voter’s oath.
(F) The applicant’s e-mail address, which shall be optional to provide.
(2) A motor vehicle driver’s license or nondriver identification card application shall provide the following statements:
(A) “By signing and submitting this application, you are authorizing the Department of Motor Vehicles to transmit this application to the Secretary of State for voter registration purposes. YOU MAY DECLINE TO REGISTER. Both the office through which you submit this application and your decision of whether or not to register will remain confidential and will be used for voter registration purposes only.”
(B) “In order to be registered to vote, you must: (1) be a U.S. citizen; (2) be a resident of Vermont; (3) have taken the voter’s oath; and (4) be 18 years of age or older. Any person meeting the requirements of (1)-(3) who will be 18 years of age on or before the date of a general election may register and vote in the primary election immediately preceding that general election. Failure to decline to register is an attestation that you meet the requirements to vote.”
(3) A motor vehicle driver’s license or nondriver identification card application shall provide the penalties provided by law for submission of a false voter registration application and shall require the signature of the applicant, under penalty of perjury.
(c) An application for voter registration under this section shall update any previous voter registration by the applicant. Any change of address form submitted to the Department of Motor Vehicles in connection with an application for a motor vehicle driver’s license shall serve to update voter registration information previously provided by the voter, unless the voter states on the form that the change of address is not for voter registration purposes.
(d)(1) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall transmit motor vehicle driver’s license and nondriver identification card applications received under this section to the Secretary of State not later than five days after the date the application was accepted by the Department, or before the date of any primary or general election, whichever is sooner.
(2) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall not transmit motor vehicle driver’s license and nondriver identification card applications when the applicant has designated that he or she declines to be registered.
(3) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall ensure confidentiality of records as required by subdivision (b)(2)(A) of this section.
(e) The Secretary shall promptly transmit applications received under this section to the clerks of the appropriate municipalities.
(f) In transmitting applications received under this section, the Secretary shall ensure compliance with the requirements of 15 Vt. Stat. Ann. chapter 21, subchapter 3.
(g) If a person who is ineligible to vote becomes registered to vote pursuant to this section in the absence of a violation of subsection 2145(f) of this chapter, that person’s registration shall be presumed to have been effected with official authorization and not the fault of that person.
(h) The Secretary shall take appropriate measures to educate the public about voter registration under this section.
(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (d) of this section or any other provision of law to the contrary, the Department of Motor Vehicles shall share its motor vehicle driver’s license, driver privilege card, and nondriver identification card customer data with the Secretary of State’s office for the Secretary’s use in conducting voter registration and voter checklist maintenance activities. (Added 1997, No. 47, § 5; amended 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2015, No. 44, § 5, eff. Jan. 1, 2017; 2015, No. 80 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 2017; 2019, No. 67, § 6.)