Nearly 170,000 Vermonters have already voted in this year’s general election.
According to data from the Secretary of State’s Office compiled by the United States Elections Project, town and city clerks had already received 168,568 ballots by Monday afternoon.
That’s more than half of the total votes cast during the last midterm election in 2018, when turnout reached 278,230. That year, 72,222 Vermonters voted using early or absentee ballots — about 26% of the total vote.
Early voting spiked in 2020 after lawmakers instituted a temporary, universal mail-in voting system to preserve ballot access at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. That year, which also included a presidential election, 280,455 Vermonters voted using early or absentee ballots — about 76% of the total 370,968 votes cast.
This year marks Vermont’s first general election since lawmakers made universal mail-in voting permanent in 2021.
Voting is set to conclude when polls close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
According to the Secretary of State’s Office, if you haven’t voted yet, you can drop off your completed ballot at your polling place on Tuesday or fill one out in person. If you plan to vote in person, bring the blank ballot you received in the mail. Otherwise, you’ll need to sign a sworn statement affirming that you haven’t already voted.
Learn more in our 2022 Election Guide, and stay tuned to VTDigger.org for live coverage throughout Election Day.