Town Meeting:
Vermont Town Meeting Day is the first Tuesday in March.  In Lincoln, the Annual Town Meeting is held on the Monday night before Vermont Town Meeting Day – this year it is Monday, March 5, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. upstairs at Burnham Hall.

Town Election and the Presidential Primary (Vermont’s Town Meeting Day):
Election of Town Officers and Australian ballot voting are held on Vermont Town Meeting Day – this year it is Tuesday, March 6, 2012.  The polls are open from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. downstairs at Burnham Hall.

Petitions for Articles to be included in the Warning:
The warning shall also contain any article or articles requested by a petition signed by at least five percent of the voters of the municipality, and filed with the Town Clerk not less than 40 days before the day of the Town Meeting.  An organization requesting Town funds should file a short report explaining how Lincoln residents were helped by the organization, and a budget summary, which can be viewed at the Town Clerk's Office, if requested.

Nominations, Petitions for Candidate for Office:
Nominations of the municipal officers shall be by petition.  The petition shall be filed with the Town Clerk, together with a written consent of the prospective nominee to the printing of his/her name on the ballot, no later than 5:00 p.m. on the sixth Monday preceding the day of the election.  A petition shall contain the name of only one candidate.  A voter shall not sign more than one petition for the same office, unless more than one nomination is to be made, in which case he/she may sign as many petitions as there are nominations to be made for the same office.  A person consenting to be nominated may withdraw by notifying the Town Clerk in writing no later than 5:00 pm on the Wednesday after the filing deadline.

Applications to be added to the Voter Checklist:
A person who desires to register to vote in an election shall, during regular hours, file an application in the office of the Town Clerk in which he/she claims to be a resident.  If the regular hours don’t work for you, please call to make an appointment.
Applications shall be accepted until 5:00 p.m. on February 29, 2012, in order to be on the checklist for this year's Town Meeting.  If a person is not eligible to register prior to Feb. 29th, but expects to be eligible on or before Election Day, he/she may file with the Town Clerk a written notice of intention to apply for addition to the checklist.  The notice shall be filed prior to 5:00 p.m. on the 29th of February, and the Board of Civil Authority shall then accept the person's application at any time before the close of the polls on Election Day, and act upon the application forthwith.  The Lincoln Town Office will be open from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on February 29, 2012 for this purpose.

Absentee Voting:
A voter, who expects to be an absent voter, or an authorized person in his/her behalf, may apply to the Town Clerk for early/absentee ballots until 5:00 p.m. on the day preceding the election. Absentee ballot requests may be made by telephone, in person, in writing, by fax or e-mail, and shall be valid for only one election. 
A person may vote early, in person at the Town Clerk's Office; by mail; by picking your ballot up and bringing it home to be voted; or, if ill or needing help, a pair of Justices will bring the ballot to your home on the day of the election.  We must hand or mail early ballots directly to the voter, you cannot send a courier to physically pick one up for you.  Please leave enough time for mailing, especially if you will be overseas, or if you are unable to come in to the office.  If you have questions regarding absentee voting, please call the Town Clerk's Office.

Voting Options for Persons with Disabilities:
The entrances to the Burnham Hall Polling Place are the basement doors closest to East River Road on both sides of the building.  The entrance on the Southeast side of Burnham Hall is also a drive-up handicapped entrance, accessible via the U-shaped driveway.  Voters with limited mobility are encouraged to use this drive-up entrance.   For traffic flow safety, please enter the driveway at the end nearest the building, and exit back onto the road at the end farthest East from the building, where there is better visibility for oncoming traffic.
If you are a voter who needs assistance with any aspect of voting, you can:

If you have suggestions, or if there is any other way we can assist you with voting, please call the Town Clerk ahead of time, so we can be sure to accommodate your needs.  You can also call any of the Justices of the Peace or Selectboard members listed in the “Town Officers” section of this report.

Vote-by-Telephone Option:
All Federal Elections will now offer an option for voters to vote-by-telephone at the Polling Place.  This is an opportunity for anyone who would like assistance with casting their vote, to vote privately, at the polling place.  This is a telephone with headset, which allows the voter to have an automated voice read the Federal ballot to him/her.  The voter makes ballot selections by pressing buttons in response to the voice menu.  The telephone has large buttons and has been approved for people with disabilities. The telephone will be set up in a private voting area, where the voter can be seated during the voting process.  At this time, the vote-by-telephone option is only for Federal Elections, and will not be programmed for local elections, due to the cost of set-up.  If you think that you might be interested in voting this way, you can have an opportunity to practice listening to the ballot at home, prior to the election, but on Election Day you must come to the polling place to vote-by-phone.  The phone number to call for practice and preview is toll free, 1-866-486-3838.  The ballot access ID# for Lincoln is 010.  The vote-by-phone option can take some time to do, so please come early if you plan to vote this way.  Please call the Town Clerk to learn more about this option, or you can call the VT Secretary of State, Elections Division at 1-800-439-8683.
Electioneering Communication         
The Lincoln Board of Civil Authority (BCA) would like to remind members of the community that campaign electioneering communications are regulated by Vermont Law, V.S.A. Title 17, Subchapter 8, Sections 2891, 2892, and 2893.  The BCA has adopted a Polling Place Code of Conduct, which is available at the Town office upon request, or at www.lincolnvermont.org.