BILL AS INTRODUCED H.450
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VT LEG #379873 v.1
H.450 1
Introduced by Representatives Emmons of Springfield and Morris of 2
Springfield 3
Referred to Committee on 4
Date: 5
Subject: Elections; conduct of elections; recounts and contest of elections; 6
appointment of recount committee; requirement for nominees to be 7
disinterested parties 8
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to, in the event 9
of a contested election and recount, require candidates to nominate 10
disinterested parties to a recount committee and prohibit the Superior Court 11
from appointing nominees to the recount committee if they are an interested 12
party. 13
An act relating to prohibiting the appointment of interested parties to a 14
recount committee 15
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 16
Sec. 1. 17 V.S.A. § 2602a is amended to read: 17
§ 2602a. APPOINTMENT OF RECOUNT COMMITTEE 18
(a)(1) Upon receipt of a petition, the county clerk shall notify all candidates 19
for the office that is the subject of the recount, advising them to each submit 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.450
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VT LEG #379873 v.1
immediately a list of a minimum of 10 nominees for disinterested individuals 1
to serve on a recount committee. 2
(2)(A) If a list of nominees is not delivered to the county clerk within 3
two business days, the clerk shall notify the appropriate candidates that they 4
have 24 hours to submit lists of nominees for disinterested individuals to serve 5
on the recount committee. 6
* * * 7
(b)(1) The Superior Court shall make a minimum of 12 appointments to the 8
recount committee from among those nominated under this section, with the 9
number of appointments based on the number of votes to be recounted and a 10
goal of completing the recount within one day. 11
(2) In making these appointments, the court shall appoint an equal 12
number of persons disinterested individuals representing each candidate, to the 13
extent practicable. 14
(c) As used in this section, “disinterested individual” means an individual 15
who is not a relative of or subordinate to the candidates and who shares no 16
direct pecuniary interest with the candidates. 17
Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE 18
This act shall take effect on July 1, 2025. 19