Actual Vote in Vermont
Poll tapes posted inside, or at closing time only
Information current as of June 2026
This page explains how to use the Actual Vote app in Vermont for the next election. New to Actual Vote? Start here to learn what it is and why it matters.
Vermont is not vote-by-mail-only (an earlier note had that wrong) — it has in-person polling in every town and a public count. By law, the public “may remain within the polling place... able to observe the counting process” (17 V.S.A. § 2581). In the many small hand-count towns, the presiding officer must announce the results aloud as each office is tallied. In larger tabulator towns, the machine prints a results tape that the town may post on an “Unofficial incomplete results” placard and may announce — posting there is optional, but you can watch the tape print. The Secretary of State posts unofficial results online as towns report. Polls close 7 p.m.
Your participation is powerful: you join a nationwide team whose recordings get compared, tape-by-tape, against the officially reported results — an independent check on vote reporting, which is vulnerable to error and fraud. We haven’t published an Actual Vote analysis from Vermont yet, but see what a team achieved in the 2024 North Carolina primary. The process is legal and next-to-impossible to abuse for partisan gain: everything on a poll tape is already public.
This information was compiled using AI-assisted internet research along with some calls to election offices and word-of-mouth tips. It reflects America Counts’s best knowledge of how to access poll tapes in Vermont as of June 2026, but it cannot be guaranteed 100% accurate. The best way to be sure about accessing poll tapes in your area is to call your local elections office and ask — see below for ready-to-use scripts.
If your experience or knowledge of poll-tape procedure in Vermont is different from what we show here, please contact us and let us know — we update these pages as we learn more.
Your ways to participate in Vermont
In order of power — how early in the chain of custody the evidence is, how many tapes one person can capture, and how easy it is.
- 1
Record the close at your polling placeMost powerful
In Vermont the tape is posted inside or read out at the close, so be present when the polls close and record it. Realistically about one location a night.
See a detailed example of how to make a plan to visit polling places on election night based in Broward County, Florida.
- 2
Become a poll worker or observer
Working the polls or serving as an appointed observer puts you right at the source — the earliest point in the chain of custody, and the clearest view of the count and the tape.
See more details about Actual Vote for poll workers or observers.
- 3
Visit or book an appointment at your county elections office
Election offices can often provide many precincts’ tapes at once — a great way to cover a whole county on your own schedule.
Email/phone script — book an appointment at your Vermont county elections office
To: [your county] County elections office
Re: Appointment to view and record precinct results tapes
Hello, and thank you for your work. My name is [name]. My friends and I use Actual Vote, an app from America Counts, a non-partisan election transparency organization — we video-record poll tapes and compare them to the official results as an independent double-check.
We’d like to request an appointment to view and video-record the certified precinct results tapes (summary statements) from the [date] election — Election Day, absentee/by-mail, and early voting — for [all precincts / the following precincts: ____]. [Preferred date and window] would work, but we’re flexible and happy to follow any rules your office sets.
Everything on these tapes is public records under the Vermont Access to Public Records Act (1 V.S.A. § 316), and already public, so all we’d need is the tapes and a place to work. Thank you for considering it. — [name], [contact]Offices are busiest right before certification — offering a flexible window (and to start with a few precincts) makes a yes easier. See the full worked example for more.
See a detailed example of how to do this.
- 4
File a public-records request for poll-tape images
Poll tapes are public records under the Vermont Access to Public Records Act. You can request digital copies by precinct and voting method — available in every state, though it captures the tapes later in the chain of custody.
Public-records request email — Vermont town results tapes/return sheets
To: [your town] Town Clerk's office
Re: Public data request — [election, e.g. November 5, 2024 General Election] results, [your town], Vermont
Dear [Town] Town Clerk,
Under the Vermont Access to Public Records Act, 1 V.S.A. § 316, I'm requesting copies of public election data — specifically the tabulator results tape, or, if [town] hand-counts, the certified return sheet showing the tallied results, meeting the following criteria:
• From Vermont's [election, e.g. November 5, 2024 General Election]
• From [your town], Vermont
• For each voting method that produced a printed or written tally — Election Day (in-person), and early/absentee ballots as tallied by the town's Board of Civil Authority
• The tape/return sheet showing candidate-by-candidate vote totals — I don't need the zero or configuration tapes, though including them is fine
• If no ballots were cast for any combination above (so no tally exists), simply omit it
I understand some towns post an "Unofficial incomplete results" tape at the polling place while others simply announce results aloud as they're hand-counted — whichever [town] does, I'm just after a copy of whatever printed or written tally your office kept.
Digital scans (emailed or via a download link, in any common format such as .pdf or .jpg) would be ideal; physical copies for pickup or mail are also fine. These are public records, and the totals they show are already in the official published results. They'll be used for legitimate, non-partisan vote-reporting auditing with Actual Vote, an app from America Counts, a non-partisan election transparency organization — you can see exactly how it works, and why it's non-partisan, at Start Here.
If you must redact anything beyond voting method and results totals, please go ahead. If you deny any part of this request, please cite the specific exemption and let me know the appeal options under the law. Please also tell me of any fee in advance — I request a fee waiver, as this analysis is in the public interest, contributes to election transparency, and is not for any commercial purpose.
Because our analysis is most useful before results are certified, I'd be grateful for the data within about a week if possible; if you expect a delay, just let me know when to expect it.
Thank you for considering this request. — [name], [email/phone]See a detailed example of how to do this.
Quick reference: tape access by role in Vermont
A companion to the options above. Whatever your role when the polls close — poll worker, appointed watcher, or member of the public — here’s who can see and record the results tape in Vermont, and how the state compares nationally.
Public count; the tabulator tape may optionally be posted.
Example Actual Vote Recordings
We don’t have any recordings from Vermont yet — you could be the first! Here are some example poll tape videos by Actual Vote users in other states. America Counts compares the vote totals on each poll tape video to the official results to double-check the accuracy of the vote reporting. See this report from North Carolina in 2022 for an example.
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Henderson County, North Carolina November 6, 2024 -
Broward County, Florida November 6, 2024 -
Gwinnett County, Georgia November 6, 2024
Recordings live in the public Actual Vote Video Archive.
How we know this — and how you can check it
This reflects America Counts’s June 2026 primary-source review of Vermont’s election statutes and Secretary of State guidance. We’re finalizing the detailed, fully-cited "how we know this" write-up for Vermont. In the meantime, the surest way to confirm what applies at your polling place or elections office is to call them directly. Found something different? Help us verify it.
Find your county's election website
County sites carry polling locations and local contact information. Search "[your county], Vermont elections" if a link 404s.
Ready to help?
Join the nationwide team independently double-checking how votes are reported — starting in Vermont.