MONTPELIER — Vermont electoral officials agree: The COVID-19 pandemic will significantly upend this year’s traditional March Town Meeting season.
They just can’t sum up how yet.
“We know of a few towns that have said they’re going to change their date or move to Australian ballot,” said Secretary of State Jim Condos. “But everybody at this point is kind of playing it by ear.”
In a typical year, Vermont’s 246 municipalities would be posting notices for town meetings and votes on or around the first Tuesday in March. But coronavirus concerns have spurred municipalities to pause, so they can consider state calls to either postpone in-person gatherings until later this year or opt for mailable ballots.
“The riskiest thing right now is to hold a floor meeting,” said Will Senning, the state’s director of elections.
The Vermont Legislature just passed a temporary law that gives local leaders several options for rescheduling or switching to ballots — actions that voters usually have to approve a year in advance.
The Secretary of State’s Office is sharing a summary of what’s permitted, as well as floor meeting guidance that calls for:
■Health screenings and collection of names and contact information of all who attend.
■Crowd limits of 50% of fire safety occupancy or one person per 100 square feet, whichever ensures distancing of at least 6 feet.
■Cloth face coverings over the mouth and nose, even when someone is speaking.
■No discussion of questions not on the agenda or extras such as potluck meals, bake sales or staffed information tables.
“While municipalities are empowered to make individual decisions to fit their circumstance,” the guidance said, “mask mandates and building capacity limitations may present municipalities with difficult legal questions if voters are turned away or if the meeting puts voters in an unsafe situation.”
The guidance concludes: “Municipalities are strongly encouraged to not conduct their annual meetings in-person (‘from the floor’) this year.”
All that information hasn’t stopped local leaders from phoning the Secretary of State’s Office and the Vermont League of Cities and Towns municipal support organization.
“We’ve been blown out of the water by the number of calls we’ve received,” said Karen Horn, the league’s director of public policy and advocacy. “A lot of places are still trying to figure it out.”
The Secretary of State’s Office is surveying municipalities about their Town Meeting plans in hopes of posting some sort of calendar in the near future.
“There’s a lot of angst about losing traditional floor meetings and the opportunity to get together as a community and debate,” Senning said. “Nobody’s trying to take that away permanently. These changes are temporary. These changes are one year only.”