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Vermont Statewide Referendum: Primary Elections Question 2 (1914)
The Vermont Statewide Referendum: Primary Elections Question 2, also known as Advisory Referendum 491, was on the 1914 ballot in Vermont as an advisory question. It was approved. This referendum asked voters if they preferred a "direct primary," which would elect party candidates to the general election ballot without the use of delegates.
The advisory referendum also included another question that asked if a preferential primary system was favorable. The referendum was seen as confusing due to the conflicting questions both having a "yes" and "no" option. Since both questions appeared on the same referendum, neither question received a majority of the vote. Even though the direct primary question received 79.9 percent of the "yes" votes for that question, it only accounted for 47 percent of the "yes" votes on both questions. Then-Governor Charles Gates asked the Legislature to honor the direct vote option, as it received the highest number of "yes" votes. The Legislature ultimately voted 147 to 25 in favor of the direct primary.[1]
Election results
| Vermont Advisory Referendum 491 (1914) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 Yes | 22,645 | 79.90% | ||
| No | 5697 | 20.10% | ||
Election results via: Vermont Secretary of State
See also
External links
Footnotes
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State of Vermont Montpelier (capital) |
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