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The Vermont Statutes Online
Title
06
:
Agriculture
Chapter
024
:
AGRICULTURAL MARKETING RULES
Subchapter
004
:
ADMINISTRATION
§
255. Eligibility of producers; conduct of referendum
(a) Only persons
who verify pursuant to this section that they are producers shall be eligible
to vote in a referendum. The secretary shall prepare a list of all persons
believed to be producers. At least 28 days prior to the referendum, he or she
shall mail to each person on the list a notice of the referendum, and a
statement on which each person may verify that he or she is a producer within
the meaning of this chapter. The secretary shall also cause to be published the
notice and verification statement in two newspapers of general circulation
throughout the state on the same day for two successive weeks, the last date of
publication to be at least 28 days prior to the date of the referendum. The
notice shall also state that no producer shall be eligible to vote unless he
returns the verification statement to the secretary postmarked at least 10 days
prior to the date of the referendum. A referendum shall not be considered
invalid because a producer is unknown to the secretary, or does not receive
notification.
(b) Upon receipt
of signed verifications, the secretary shall forthwith mail ballots to all
producers who have verified their eligibility to vote. Those producers shall
mark their ballots and return them to the secretary either by hand no later
than 10 days after the referendum date or by mail postmarked no later than 10
days after the referendum date.
(c) The
secretary shall count the ballots and release the results to the public.
(d) The results
of any referendum shall bind all producers regardless of whether they voted, or
were eligible to vote, in the referendum. The results shall also bind persons
who become producers thereafter.
(e) Prior to the
issuance, amendment, or termination of any marketing rule, the secretary may
require the applicant to deposit with the agency an amount determined by the
secretary to defray the expense of conducting the referendum. The funds shall
be managed as provided by section 256 of this title. If the proposed market
rule action is approved in a referendum, the secretary shall return any
unexpended monies collected to the applicant. (Added 1985, No. 41, § 3, eff.
May 11, 1985; amended 1993, No. 73, § 1, eff. June 10, 1993; 2003, No. 42, § 2,
eff. May 27, 2003.)