Early voting begins; town reports available this week
February 11, 2026 | By Lisa ScagliottiUPDATE Feb. 22: This post has been updated with more details about the Waterbury Annual Town Report including locations to pick up paper copies.
With Vermont’s Town Meeting Day now three weeks away, voters around the state can start voting early and find copies of their town’s annual reports to read up on local issues.
For those who may be away on March 3 and unable to vote, getting an absentee/early ballot or voting early can happen at your town clerk’s office, details below for Waterbury and Duxbury. In addition, any Vermont voter can request a ballot and even register to vote using the Vermont Secretary of State’s website. In Vermont, people can even register on Election Day at the polls.
Waterbury
The cover of the Waterbury Annual Report for town meeting is dedicated to the new Stowe Street bridge, built in 2025. Inside the report is a photo of the previous structure, built as a covered bridge in 1928. Photo by Gordon Miller
In Waterbury, Town Clerk Beth Jones said early/absentee voting in person will begin today. Voters may stop in at the municipal office to cast a ballot Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., through March 2. Jones explained that although the town clerk’s office is closed for its usual services on Thursdays in February, voting will be available every day of the week.
Town Meeting Day is Tuesday, March 3.
Voters also may call or email to request a ballot be mailed to them to be returned by March 3. Email Jones at bjones@waterburyvt.com or Assistant Clerk Carol Dawes at cdawes@waterburyvt.com; phone is 802-244-8447.
Waterbury’s paper ballots have local elections for town positions and Harwood School Board seats. Waterbury voters also will have a ballot question regarding authorizing the Waterbury Select Board to bond for up to $4.3 million for a flood mitigation project for Randall Meadow. That is part of a grant process through which the town has been awarded $2 million to put toward that project. A public hearing about that question will be part of the select board’s Feb. 17 meeting. (See more about that issue here.)
On Town Meeting Day, Waterbury voters will be able to cast ballots from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the gym at Brookside Primary School. At 9 a.m., the annual in-person town meeting will be held, where those voters present will vote on all other town business not on the paper ballots, particularly all financial questions pertaining to the 2026 town budget.
Jones said that Waterbury town reports with details for town meeting are now available online and in printed copies. Call or email the town clerk’s office to request a report by mail (802-244-8447 or bjones@waterburyvt.com). An electronic version of the report in PDF format is posted on the town website along with all Town Meeting warnings and sample ballots on the Town Clerk’s page, under the heading for voting and elections.
Paper copies of the report are now available at the Waterbury Municipal Office lobby, the Waterbury Public Library,
Maplewood’s Convenience Store, Northfield Savings Bank, Kinney Drugs, Vermont State Employees / New England Federal Credit Union, Billings Mobil, and the downtown U.S. Post Office on North Main Street.
The cover of this year’s report, which is a summary of 2025, depicts the new Stowe Street bridge built last year. The aerial photo on the report cover was taken by Waterbury Roundabout photographer Gordon Miller. Inside the report is a photo of the covered bridge spanning the Thatcher Brook in the same spot prior to the 1927 flood. That bridge was destroyed in the flood, after which a new bridge was constructed in 1928. It was that bridge that was torn down in 2025 for the Vermont Agency of Transportation’s project to construct the modern three-lane bridge that opened last fall.
The town report’s dedication honors outgoing Waterbury Select Board Chair Alyssa Johnson who is stepping down after serving four years on the board. Johnson previously was a member of the Planning Commission, where she also served as chair. The dedication recognizes Johnson’s “outstanding service and unwavering commitment to local government,” noting that in her leadership roles, she “has given generously of her time, energy and insight to the betterment of the community.”
Duxbury
Duxbury’s Annual Report is posted online and paper copies were mailed to all registered voters.
Duxbury Town Clerk Maureen Harvey said that paper copies of the town’s annual report have been automatically mailed to all registered voters. Additional copies are available at the town office, and the electronic version of the report in PDF form is posted on the town website on the Town Clerk & Treasurer page.
Voters may visit the town office during regular hours, Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., through March 2, to cast an early ballot. Those wishing to vote absentee also may request a ballot be mailed to them. Call 802-244-6660 or email Harvey at TownClerk@duxburyvermont.com to request a ballot by mail. All ballots must be returned by March 3.
On Town Meeting Day, Duxbury voters will decide all town business as well as elections for town and school offices by paper ballot. Voting will be set up in the now-familiar drive-through format outside the town office and town garage on Vermont Rt. 100 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Duxbury does not hold an in-person town meeting.