The Cabot town clerk’s office is now receiving ballots for articles and elections on Town Meeting Day. Photo by Maggie Lee.

CABOT — Town Meeting will look different this year. No one will file into the Cabot School gym and there won’t be any lively floor debates. Instead, voters will connect to Zoom on February 23 for a public hearing. The following week, voters will take to the polls, mail their ballots, or drop them in the box at the town clerk’s office for the March 2 Town Meeting Day.

Cabot Select Board Vice Chair Ruth Goodrich is thankful for a safe option for her community. The town considered holding the annual meeting on Zoom, but, Goodrich says, “It would become a nightmare because people would not be able to speak, and it makes it quite lengthy to do it that way … I’m really thankful that we’re able to have the Australian ballot option.”

Cabot is not alone in adopting the Australian Ballot for this year’s town meeting. Statewide, municipalities have tried to balance the tradition of town meeting day with the safety of the community amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawmakers in Montpelier, led by Bradford Rep. Sarah Copeland-Hanzas, passed a bill designed to allow more flexibility for towns to adjust their annual meeting to better serve a COVID-19 Vermont.

Cabot Town Clerk Betty Ritter expressed confidence in the process the town adopted. She explained that the town contracted with a local company to get ballots mailed to every resident. “I can’t say one way or the other if it’s more time consuming to do it by Australian ballot because you have a lot of pieces,” Ritter said. “But then, when you have an actual town meeting… we usually have to move everything over there so it could be a toss-up.”

Goodrich said she will miss the usual up-close display of direct democracy that has been a hallmark of Vermont town meetings for generations. But she acknowledged the traditional town meeting may leave out some perspectives. “Back in the day, everything shut down and everybody went to town meeting, but now with everybody having jobs and things it’s difficult to get there if you have to work. So, it’s been changing in recent years,” she said.

While Goodrich said she thinks mailed ballots will boost voter turnout, she’s concerned voters won’t be as informed about the issues up for vote. This year, ballot items range from select board positions to the sale of Green Mountain Masonic Lodge. Both Goodrich and Ritter spoke of the importance of everyone in town taking the time to inform themselves on the issues and vote.

Ballots can be dropped off in a drop box outside the town clerk’s office. If residents wish to participate in day-of voting, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 2, at the Willey Building. Temperature checks will be required and there will be a one-way flow of traffic through the building, but Ritter said she looks forward to seeing her fellow citizens on Town Meeting Day, no matter how different it looks.