Vermont elections, 2012

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The state of Vermont held elections in 2012. Below are the dates of note:

• Signature filing deadline: June 14, 2012
• Primary date: August 28, 2012
• General election date: November 6, 2012

On the 2012 ballot			Click here for all November 6, 2012 Election Results
U.S. Senate (1 seat)	a	Preview Article
U.S. House (1 seat)	a
State Executives (6 seats)	a	Preview Article
State Senate (30 seats)	a	Preview Article
State House (150 seats)	a
Ballot measures (0 measures)	d	N/A

2012 Elections

Note: Election information listed on this page does not pertain to 2012 presidential elections. For more about Ballotpedia's areas of coverage, click here.
For election results in the 50 states, see our November 6, 2012 election results page

Elections by type

• U.S. Senate
• U.S. House
• State Executives
• State Senate
• State House

See also: United States Senate elections in Vermont, 2012

U.S. Senate, Vermont, General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Independent	Bernie Sanders Incumbent	71.1%	207,848
	Republican	John MacGovern	24.9%	72,898
	Third	Cris Ericson	2%	5,924
	Third	Laurel LaFramboise	0.3%	877
	Third	Peter Moss	0.8%	2,452
	Third	Pete Diamondstone	0.9%	2,511
Total Votes				292,510
Source: Vermont Board of Elections "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Vermont, 2012

Members of the U.S. House from Vermont -- Partisan Breakdown
Party		As of November 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	1	1
	Republican Party	0	0
Total		1	1

District	General Election Candidates	Incumbent	2012 Winner	Partisan Switch?
At-large	Peter Welch Mark Donka James Desrochers Andre LaFramboise Jane Newton	Peter Welch	Peter Welch	No

See also: Vermont state executive official elections, 2012

There were six state executive positions up for election.

• Governor of Vermont
• Lieutenant Governor of Vermont
• Vermont Secretary of State
• Attorney General of Vermont
• Vermont Treasurer
• Vermont State Auditor

Governor of Vermont General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Peter Shumlin Incumbent	57.8%	170,749
	Republican	Randy Brock	37.6%	110,940
	Independent	Emily Peyton	2%	5,868
	United States Marijuana	Cris Ericson	1.9%	5,583
	Liberty Union	Dave Eagle	0.4%	1,303
	Independent	Write-in	0.3%	969
Total Votes				295,412
Election Results via Vermont Secretary of State.

Lieutenant Governor of Vermont General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Phillip Scott Incumbent	57.1%	162,787
	Democratic	Cassandra Gekas	40.4%	115,015
	Liberty Union	Ben Mitchell	2.4%	6,975
	Independent	Write-in	0.1%	257
Total Votes				285,034
Election Results via Vermont Secretary of State.

Vermont Secretary of State General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jim Condos Incumbent	86.6%	225,801
	Liberty Union	Mary Alice Herbert	13.1%	34,105
	Independent	Write-in	0.3%	876
Total Votes				260,782
Election Results via Vermont Secretary of State.

Attorney General of Vermont General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Bill Sorrell Incumbent	57.9%	164,441
	Republican	Jack McMullen	33.3%	94,588
	Progressive	Ed Stanak	5.5%	15,629
	Liberty Union	Rosemarie Jackowski	3%	8,533
	Independent	Write-in	0.2%	588
Total Votes				283,779
Election Results via Vermont Secretary of State.

Vermont Treasurer General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Elizabeth Pearce Incumbent	52.3%	147,700
	Republican	Wendy Wilton	40.7%	114,947
	Progressive	Don Schramm	4.4%	12,497
	Liberty Union	Jessica Diamondstone	2.5%	6,939
	Independent	Write-in	0.1%	198
Total Votes				282,281
Election Results via Vermont Secretary of State. Vote totals above are unofficial and reflect 263 of 275 precincts reporting.

Vermont State Auditor General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Doug Hoffer	51.3%	140,805
	Republican	Vince Illuzzi	45.1%	123,806
	Liberty Union	Jerry Levy	3.4%	9,381
	Independent	Write-in	0.1%	276
Total Votes				274,268
Election Results via Vermont Secretary of State.

See also: Vermont State Senate elections, 2012

Heading into the election, Democrats maintained partisan control in the state senate.

Vermont State Senate
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	20	21
	Republican Party	8	7
	Vermont Progressive Party	2	2
Total		30	30

See also: Vermont House of Representatives elections, 2012

Heading into the election, Democrats maintained partisan control in the state house.

Vermont House of Representatives
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	94	98
	Republican Party	47	43
	Vermont Progressive Party	5	4
	Independent	3	4
	Vacancy	1	1
Total		150	150

Eligibility to Vote

Primary election

See also: Voting in the 2012 primary elections

Vermont is one of 19 states to use an open primary system. Voters were required to register to vote in the primary by 5 p.m. on August 22, 2012, which is 6 days before the primary took place . (Information about registering to vote)

General election

See also: Voting in the 2012 general elections

The deadline to register to vote is 6 days prior to the election day, which in 2012 was October 31.

• Voter ID info
• Residency requirements: Resident of Vermont and town
• Same-day registration: None

Voting absentee

See also: Absentee Voting

2012 developments

The U.S. Justice Department has settled a lawsuit with Vermont over the state's delayed mailing of some absentee ballots, which was filed by the federal government.

The U.S. Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting Act requires that those absentee ballots which are requested by voters be mailed out at least 45 days before an election.

Due to a dispute over the Progressive Party's gubernatorial primary results, the completion of the general election ballot was delayed until September 30. This caused at least 191 of the 894 absentee ballots to be mailed late.

As a result of the lawsuit, voters whose ballots were sent late will have their receipt deadline extended by 10 days.

Eligibility

All voters are eligible to vote absentee in Vermont. There are no special eligibility requirements for voting absentee.

Deadlines

To vote absentee, an absentee ballot application must be received by the election office at least 1 day prior to the election. A returned absentee ballot must then be received by the elections office by close of polls on election day.

Military and overseas voting

For full details, visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program here.

Voting early

See also: Early voting

Vermont is one of 33 states that has early voting with no specific requirements as to who can vote early. Early voting begins 45 days before an election and ends on the day prior to election day. The average number of days prior to an election that voters can cast an early ballot is 21 days in states with a definitive starting date.

See also

• Statewide elections, 2012
• 2012 election dates
• Election result resources
• Voter guides
• State Blue Books
• State Poll Opening and Closing Times (2012)
• Voting in Vermont
• Absentee voting
• Early voting