BILL AS INTRODUCED H.313
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H.313 1
Introduced by Representatives Sibilia of Dover and Nugent of South 2
Burlington 3
Referred to Committee on 4
Date: 5
Subject: Elections; presidential elections; primary elections; ranked-choice 6
voting 7
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to create a 8
temporary Ranked-Choice Voting Study Committee to examine issues in 9
implementing ranked-choice voting in Vermont across all elections for State 10
and federal offices. It proposes to require the use of ranked-choice voting for 11
U.S. presidential primary elections for each major political party. 12
An act relating to ranked-choice voting for presidential primary elections 13
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 14
* * * Ranked-Choice Voting Study Committee * * * 15
Sec. 1. RANKED-CHOICE VOTING STUDY COMMITTEE; REPORT 16
(a) Creation. There is created the Ranked-Choice Voting Study Committee 17
to examine issues in implementing ranked-choice voting in Vermont across all 18
elections for State and federal offices. 19 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.313
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(b) Membership. The Ranked-Choice Voting Study Committee shall be 1
composed of the following members: 2
(1) two current members of the House of Representatives, not from the 3
same political party, who shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House; 4
(2) two current members of the Senate, not from the same political 5
party, who shall be appointed by the Committee on Committees; 6
(3) one designee, appointed by the Secretary of State; 7
(4) three designees, appointed by the Vermont Municipal Clerks’ and 8
Treasurers’ Association, from different-sized towns, cities, and villages; 9
different regions; and at least one shall be from a town, city, or village that 10
uses a hand count in elections; 11
(5) one designee, appointed by the Vermont League of Cities and 12
Towns; 13
(6) a member of an organization focused on the conduct of elections, 14
who shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House; and 15
(7) a member of a different organization focused on the conduct of 16
elections, who shall be appointed by the Senate Committee on Committees. 17
(c) Powers and duties. The Ranked-Choice Voting Study Committee shall 18
study ranked-choice voting systems, with the goal of having any 19
recommendations implemented for all primary and general elections for State 20
and federal office occurring in 2028, including the following issues: 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.313
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(1) education of voters; 1
(2) training of town clerks, presiding officers, and election staff; 2
(3) election integrity, security, and transportation of ballots; 3
(4) technological requirements in tabulators, hardware, and software; 4
(5) canvassing of votes and roles of canvassing committees; 5
(6) post-election processes and reporting; and 6
(7) other items relating to the design and implementation of ranked-7
choice voting systems. 8
(d) Assistance. The Ranked-Choice Voting Study Committee shall have 9
the administrative, technical, and legal assistance of the Vermont Office of 10
Legislative Counsel and the Joint Fiscal Office. 11
(e) Report. On or before January 15, 2026, the Ranked-Choice Voting 12
Study Committee shall report to the House Committee on Government 13
Operations and Military Affairs and the Senate Committee on Government 14
Operations with its findings and any recommendations for legislative action. 15
(f) Meetings. 16
(1) A member of the House of Representatives designated by the 17
Speaker of the House shall call the first meeting of the Ranked-Choice Voting 18
Study Committee to occur on or before July 1, 2025. 19
(2) The Ranked-Choice Voting Study Committee shall select a chair 20
from among its members at the first meeting. 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.313
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(3) A majority of the members of the Ranked-Choice Voting Study 1
Committee shall constitute a quorum. 2
(4) The Ranked-Choice Voting Study Committee shall cease to exist on 3
November 1, 2026. 4
(g) Compensation and reimbursement. 5
(1) For attendance at meetings during adjournment of the General 6
Assembly, a legislative member of the Ranked-Choice Voting Study 7
Committee serving in the legislator’s capacity as a legislator shall be entitled to 8
per diem compensation and reimbursement of expenses pursuant to 2 V.S.A. 9
§ 23 for not more than four meetings. These payments shall be made from 10
monies appropriated to the General Assembly. 11
(2) Other members of the Ranked-Choice Voting Study Committee who 12
are not paid for their services by the organization for which the member is 13
representing on the Ranked-Choice Voting Study Committee shall be entitled 14
to per diem compensation as permitted under 32 V.S.A. § 1010 for not more 15
than four meetings. These payments shall be made from monies appropriated 16
to the Office of the Secretary of State. 17
(h) Appropriation. The sum of $1,000.00 is appropriated to the Office of 18
the Secretary of State from the General Fund in fiscal year 2026 for per diem 19
compensation for members of the Committee. 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.313
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* * * Ranked-Choice Voting for Presidential Primary Elections * * * 1
Sec. 2. REDESIGNATION 2
17 V.S.A. §§ 2705 and 2706 are redesignated as 17 V.S.A. §§ 2711 and 2712. 3
Sec. 3. 17 V.S.A. chapter 57, subchapter 1 is amended to read: 4
Subchapter 1. Presidential Primary 5
§ 2701. DEFINITIONS 6
As used in this subchapter: 7
(1) “Active candidate” means a candidate who has not been eliminated. 8
(2) “By lot” means a method, determined by the Secretary of State, for 9
randomly choosing between two or more active candidates. 10
(3) “Highest-ranked active candidate” means the active candidate 11
assigned a higher ranking than any other active candidate. 12
(4) “Major political party” has the same meaning as in subdivision 13
2103(23)(A) of this title. 14
(5) “Ranking” means the number available to be assigned by a voter to a 15
candidate to express the voter’s choice for that candidate. The number “1” is 16
the highest ranking, followed by “2,” and then “3,” and so on. 17
(6) “Round” means an instance of the sequence of voting tabulation in 18
accordance with section 2707 of this title. 19 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.313
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(7) “Threshold for receiving delegates” means the number of votes 1
necessary for a candidate to receive delegates in a presidential primary election 2
conducted in accordance with subdivision 2706(a)(2) of this title. 3
§ 2701 2702. PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY; TIME OF HOLDING; FORM 4
OF BALLOT 5
In presidential election years, a presidential primary for each major political 6
party shall be held in all municipalities on the first Tuesday in March. The 7
Secretary of State shall prepare and distribute for use at the primary an official 8
ranked-choice ballot for each party for which one or more candidates qualify 9
for the placing of their names on the ballot under section 2702 2703 of this 10
title. Ballots shall be printed on index stock and configured to be readable by 11
vote tabulators. 12
§ 2702 2703. NOMINATING PETITION 13
* * * 14
§ 2703 2704. EXAMINING PETITIONS; SUPPLEMENTARY PETITIONS 15
The Secretary of State shall examine the petitions and ascertain whether 16
they conform to the provisions of this chapter, and sections 2353, 2354, and 17
2358 of this title. If found not to conform, he or she the Secretary shall state in 18
writing why a particular petition cannot be accepted, and within 72 hours from 19
receipt he or she the Secretary shall return it to the candidate in whose behalf it 20
was filed. In such case, supplementary petitions may be filed not later than 10 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.313
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days after the deadline for filing petitions. However, supplementary petitions 1
shall not be accepted if petitions with the signatures of at least 1,000 persons 2
were not filed by the deadline for filing petitions set forth in section 2702 2703 3
of this chapter. 4
§ 2704 2705. RANKED-CHOICE VOTING; BALLOTS 5
(a) A presidential primary election for a major political party shall be 6
conducted by ranked-choice voting. 7
(b) A person voting at the primary shall be required to ask for the ranked-8
choice ballot of the party in which the voter wishes to vote, and an election 9
official shall record the voter’s choice of ballot by marking the entrance 10
checklist with a letter code, as designated by the Secretary of State, to indicate 11
the voter’s party choice. 12
(1) The ballot shall allow voters to rank candidates in order of choice. 13
The names of all candidates on the ballot shall be listed in alphabetical order. 14
Each voter may vote for one candidate for the presidential nomination of one 15
party, either by placing a mark opposite the printed name of a candidate as in 16
other primaries, or by writing in the name of the candidate of the voter’s 17
choice. 18
(2) The ballot shall allow voters to assign rankings to candidates that are 19
equal to the number of printed candidate names and blank write-in lines, 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.313
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except to the extent established by the Secretary pursuant to section 2710 of 1
this title. 2
§ 2706. TYPE OF RANKED-CHOICE VOTING 3
(a) At least 150 days before the date of the presidential primary election, 4
the State committee of each major political party shall confirm in writing with 5
the Secretary of State whether the party will award delegates either: 6
(1) on a winner-take-all basis in accordance with subsection 2707(d) of 7
this title; or 8
(2) on a proportional basis in accordance with subsection 2707(e) of this 9
title, in which case the party shall also indicate the applicable threshold or 10
thresholds for receiving delegates. 11
(b) If a party fails to provide notice, or its notice does not specify how the 12
party will award its delegates, the presidential primary election for that party 13
shall be tabulated on a winner-take-all basis in accordance with subsection 14
2707(d) of this title. 15
§ 2707. RANKED-CHOICE VOTING TABULATION 16
(a) Tabulation rounds. In any presidential primary election for a major 17
political party, each ballot shall count as one vote for the highest-ranked active 18
candidate on that ballot. Tabulation shall proceed in rounds. Each round 19
proceeds sequentially as described in subsection (d) or (e) of this section, as 20
applicable. 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.313
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(b) Withdrawn candidates. If a candidate withdraws, dies, or for any 1
reason becomes disqualified after the ballots have been printed, the candidate 2
shall be treated as an eliminated candidate during tabulation unless a ranking 3
for that candidate is to be counted pursuant to party rule. 4
(c) Treatment of ballots. 5
(1) An undervote is a ballot that does not rank any candidates in an 6
election for a particular office. An undervote does not count as an active or 7
inactive ballot in any round of tabulation of that election. 8
(2) An inactive ballot is a ballot that ceases during tabulation to count 9
for any candidate for the remainder of tabulation of the election for that office 10
because either: 11
(A) All candidates ranked on the ballot have become inactive. 12
(B) The ballot includes an overvote and any candidates ranked higher 13
than the overvote have become inactive. An overvote occurs when a voter 14
ranks more than one candidate at the same ranking. 15
(3) During tabulation, a ballot shall remain active and continue to count 16
for its highest-ranked active candidate notwithstanding any skipped or repeated 17
rankings on the ballot. A skipped ranking occurs when a voter leaves a 18
ranking unassigned but ranks a candidate at a subsequent ranking. A repeated 19
ranking occurs when a voter ranks the same candidate at multiple rankings. 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.313
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(d) Award of delegates on winner-take-all basis. If a major political party 1
awards all of the State’s delegates to a single candidate on a winner-take-all 2
basis, tabulation shall proceed as follows: 3
(1) If there are two or fewer active candidates, then tabulation is 4
complete and the candidate with the most votes is declared the winner of the 5
election. 6
(2) If there are more than two active candidates, the active candidate 7
with the fewest votes is eliminated, the votes for the eliminated candidate are 8
transferred to each ballot’s next-ranked active candidate, and a new round 9
begins. 10
(3) If there is a tie between two active candidates with the fewest votes, 11
the tie shall be resolved by lot to determine which candidate is defeated. The 12
result of the tie resolution must be recorded and reused in the event of a 13
recount. 14
(4) If there is a tie between the final two active candidates, the Secretary 15
of State shall notify each active candidate involved in the tie, or the candidate’s 16
designee, to be present at the Secretary of State’s office at a certain time. At 17
that time, the Secretary of State shall select the winner of the tabulation by lot. 18
(e) Award of delegates on proportional basis. If a major political party 19
awards the State’s delegates to multiple candidates on a proportional basis, 20
tabulation shall proceed as follows: 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.313
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(1) If the vote total of every active candidate is above the threshold for 1
receiving delegates as confirmed by the major political party pursuant to 2
subdivision 2706(a)(2) of this title, then tabulation is complete. 3
(2) If any active candidate is below the threshold for receiving 4
delegates, then the active candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, votes 5
for the eliminated candidate are transferred to each ballot’s next-ranked active 6
candidate, and a new round begins. 7
(3) If there is a tie between two active candidates with the fewest votes 8
and tabulation is not yet complete, the tie shall be resolved by lot to determine 9
which candidate is defeated. The result of the tie resolution must be recorded 10
and reused in the event of a recount. 11
(f) Certification of tabulation rounds. The Secretary of State shall certify 12
the results of each round tabulated pursuant to subsection (d) or (e) of this 13
section, as applicable, along with any other information required under section 14
2708 of this title, to the State chairperson and the national committee of each 15
major political party that had at least one candidate on the State-administered 16
presidential primary election ballot to allocate national delegate votes in 17
accordance with the party’s State and national rules. 18
(g) Priority of major political party rules. Nothing in this subchapter shall 19
be construed to preclude a major political party from allocating delegates 20
according to its own rules for allocating such delegates. 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.313
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§ 2708. RANKED-CHOICE VOTING RESULTS REPORTING 1
(a) Unofficial preliminary round-by-round results shall be released as soon 2
as feasible after the polls close and at regular intervals thereafter until the 3
counting of ballots is complete. 4
(b) Unofficial preliminary ballot-level ranking data shall be made public in 5
a machine-readable and searchable open format not later than when the 6
counting of ballots is complete. 7
(c) Official final round-by-round results and official final ballot-level 8
ranking data in a machine-readable and searchable open format shall be made 9
public upon certification of the results. 10
(d) If a major political party allocates delegates by geographical unit or 11
district, round-by-round results by geographical unit or district shall be made 12
public in addition to statewide results. 13
§ 2709. CANVASSING COMMITTEE CERTIFICATES 14
When the canvassing committee provided for in section 2592 of this title 15
prepares its certificate of election for a presidential primary election for a 16
major political party, the canvass shall state the number of final round votes 17
received by each candidate who has received votes in the final round of 18
tabulation. 19 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.313
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Sec. 4. 17 V.S.A. § 2710 is added to read: 1
§ 2710. RULEMAKING 2
The Secretary of State shall adopt rules pursuant to 3 V.S.A. chapter 25 for 3
the proper and efficient administration of presidential primary elections, 4
including procedures for ensuring that voting tabulators, voting tabulator 5
memory cards, and related software are able to tabulate rank-choice voting 6
when necessary; procedures for ensuring that the number of rankings allowed 7
to voters be uniform across the State for any given contest, that the number of 8
rankings allowed in any given contest be the maximum number allowed by the 9
equipment, and that the number of rankings allowed be not fewer than three in 10
any event; procedures for the release of round-by-round results; procedures for 11
requesting and conducting recounts of the results of presidential primary 12
elections for major candidates; and procedures for filing returns in accordance 13
with section 2588 of this title. 14
Sec. 5. TALLY SHEETS; SUMMARY SHEETS; RETURNS 15
The Secretary of State shall ensure that on or before January 1, 2028, all 16
tally sheets, summary sheets, and returns described in 17 V.S.A. § 2586 are 17
designed to record ranked-choice voting results in accordance with this act. 18 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.313
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* * * Effective Dates * * * 1
Sec. 6. EFFECTIVE DATES 2
This act shall take effect on passage, except that Secs. 2 (redesignation), 3 3
(amending 17 V.S.A. chapter 57, subchapter 1), 4 (rulemaking), and 5 (tally 4
sheets; summary sheets; returns) shall take effect on January 1, 2026. 5