Early voting is off to a strong start
October 21, 2026 | By Lisa Scagliotti
A Vote Early rally near the Waterbury town offices on Saturday encourages passersby to mark and turn in their General Election ballots. Photo by Gordon Miller
Early voting is off to a strong start in Waterbury where local activists took to waving signs on Saturday to remind people to mark and turn in their ballots for the General Election on Nov. 3.
Saturday was a day of some 3,000 national pro-democracy demonstrations by the No Kings movement around the country. The marches focused on a “Vote Early” theme ahead of the midterm Congressional elections. Nov. 3 is also Vermont’s election for statewide offices from governor and lieutenant governor on down, all legislative seats in the Vermont House and Senate, county offices such as judges and sheriffs, as well as local positions like justices of the peace.
In Waterbury, about 20 local residents waved signs along Main Street near the municipal offices on Saturday encouraging passersby to vote and to vote early.
Photos by Gordon Miller. Click to enlarge.
Waterbury Town Clerk Wes Pollock said he’s been busy with hundreds of ballots arriving in the mail and in the ballot dropbox. As of Tuesday, he said his office had received 847 General Election ballots. In addition, 137 voters have already marked and returned their Central Vermont Career Center ballots, Pollock said.
All Vermont active voters have been mailed their General Election ballot by now. They can be returned by mail, by dropping off at municipal offices during business hours, or in official ballot dropboxes. Voters also may drop their marked ballots or vote in person at their local polling places on Nov. 3. In Waterbury, that will be Brookside Primary School, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Also in Waterbury and all Washington County communities, voters have a second ballot with two questions pertaining to the Central Vermont Career Center bond proposal and land lease to expand the career center with a new facility at U-32 High School. It will allow the career center to expand its capacity and programming from what it currently offers to high school students at its center located at Spaulding High School in Barre. Several dozen Harwood Union High School students attend the center for training programs from culinary arts to construction trades to medical services. The Career Center ballot asks voters to consider a bond of $54.9 million to build the new center and to approve the lease for the project.
Career Center ballots can be requested through municipal clerks and on the state’s online Voter Portal, which also allows voters to track their ballots. Return them the same as with General Election ballots to municipal clerks, in official dropboxes, or at the polls on Nov. 3.
The Secretary of State advises that voters refrain from mailing ballots close to Election Day. Only ballots received by 7 p.m. on Nov. 3 will be counted.
See more information about the General Election on the Roundabout’s Election page here. For questions about ballots and voting, visit vote.vermont.gov or contact your municipal clerk’s office.