ROYALTON — Residents are being asked to attend a Special Town Meeting next week to decide if future “public questions” at Town Meeting should be decided by Australian ballot rather than a vote from the floor.

The change — which requires a simple majority in the floor vote on Tuesday, Nov. 5 — has the backing of the Selectboard, which believes it will allow more voters to weigh in on decisions and policies made by the town.

“Our concern has been voter participation, and to be very clear, this is not an attempt to get rid of Town Meeting by any means,” said Selectboard Vice Chair Tim Dreisbach, who has served on the board for three years.

“We want to make sure the Selectboard and the town are doing what the town really wants,” Dreisbach said. “In a town of 2,700 residents, we should have decisions made by hundreds of voters, not by a handful, and not by any special interests.”

Dreisbach said the “public questions” include petition articles from voters at Town Meeting and those offered by the Selectboard, such as a vote a few years ago to buy the Crawford parcel, which voters approved and now houses a new town hall.

Another such question was whether property taxes should be paid in two installments.

Dreisbach said the transition to Australian ballot voting would not apply to articles on the warning about the town budget itself, and the Vermont Secretary of State’s website also draws a distinction between public questions and “budget or money articles.”

Royalton Moderator Allison Fulcher said because of her role she is not taking a position on the proposal.

According to statistics from the Selectboard, voting from the floor at Town Meeting involves a relatively small number of Royalton voters.

At Town Meeting last spring only 135 voters — 6% of the checklist — voted from the floor, while 348 voters, or 16%, went to the polls for the Australian ballot segment that includes electing town officers.

Similar percentages were in play at Town Meeting in 2018 and 2017.

Dreisbach said many residents, including people who work out of town and seniors with mobility or transportation problems, have said they can’t make it to the floor meeting held on a Tuesday morning.

“They are workday mornings. We have limited attendance, and it’s the same people,” Dreisbach said. “We have heard from many constituents who are unable to come (and vote), such as working people.”

He and other town officials say if the measure is approved, a floor Town Meeting would still be held, and a change in state law 11 years ago allows discussion of issues (though not about candidates) that are on the Australian ballot.

That means people could still debate the questions at hand and then vote later in the day, he said.

“Our goal is to increase public participation but not discourage public discussion,” Dreisbach said.

Secretary of State Jim Condos also confirmed that budget questions could still be voted from the floor if Royalton opted to decide public questions by Australian ballot.

The Special Town Meeting will be held a 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5, at the Royalton Academy Building.

John P. Gregg can be reached at jgregg@vnews.com.