No Absentee Or Remote Voting At ‘Open’ Town Meetings

Training for: Legal Notes

Question: We have a town meeting coming up, but some voters will be unable to attend. They have asked if they can vote absentee or via remote means, such as Zoom. Can they?

Answer: No. State law governs the conduct of traditional “open” town meetings, and it does not authorize absentee ballots, absentee, or proxy voting at open town meetings.

Nor does state law authorize any form of “remote” voting at an open town meeting. Although state law authorizes remote participation at municipal board meetings, town meetings are expressly excluded from the statute’s remote meeting authorization. 1 M.R.S. § 403-B(3).

The bottom-line: Only qualified voters who are physically present at an open town meeting at the time a particular vote is called for may vote on that matter.

For more on conduct of town meetings, see MMA Legal Services’ Town Meeting & Elections Manual, available free of charge to members at on MMA’s website (www.memun.org). (By S.F.P.)

Question: We have a town meeting coming up, but some voters will be unable to attend. They have asked if they can vote absentee or via remote means, such as Zoom. Can they?

Answer: No. State law governs the conduct of traditional “open” town meetings, and it does not authorize absentee ballots, absentee, or proxy voting at open town meetings.

Nor does state law authorize any form of “remote” voting at an open town meeting. Although state law authorizes remote participation at municipal board meetings, town meetings are expressly excluded from the statute’s remote meeting authorization. 1 M.R.S. § 403-B(3).

The bottom-line: Only qualified voters who are physically present at an open town meeting at the time a particular vote is called for may vote on that matter.

For more on conduct of town meetings, see MMA Legal Services’ Town Meeting & Elections Manual, available free of charge to members at on MMA’s website (www.memun.org). (By S.F.P.)