Waterbury’s Town Meeting tradition remains intact as voters reject expanding Australian ballot
March 16, 2025 | By Madelyn McDonald and Max Spradlin | Community News Service 
For over 200 years, Waterbury residents have gathered every first Tuesday of March to discuss key town issues.
This year, however, a major conversation put the norm in jeopardy. Residents pondered whether to replace the in-person Town Meeting Day meeting with deciding all town business by Australian ballot, a system of voting privately on a paper ballot rather than attending an open discussion where votes are “ayes” and “nays” or raised hands.
Waterbury already uses an Australian ballot for its elections, but budget items and all public questions are decided only by those who attend the annual in-person meeting on Town Meeting Day.
But after a two-hour-long back-and-forth among over 200 Waterbury residents, Waterbury’s Town Meeting Day process remained unchanged.
‘Democracy at its finest’ with low participation
Several Waterbury citizens argued that Town Meeting Day is important for learning about democracy and establishing community and connection with neighbors.
“I love coming to Town Meeting Day,” said Justice of the Peace Katrina VanTyne. “I like learning about the issues, I mean, this is democracy at its finest right here. I also get to see and meet my neighbors.”
Those in favor of an in-person meeting said it allows voters to be more informed. Participants can meet candidates, ask questions and listen to the opinions of others. The Town Meeting Day agenda and discussion creates a more informed voter, supporters believe.
“There is a lot of value to be gained from a significant portion of our community hearing from our neighbors about our opinions and coming to a more informed decision,” said Duncan McDougall, the Chairman of Waterbury LEAP. “I believe it is more important for our community to have an informed decision than to use an Australian ballot.”
Putting all business on the Australian ballot would mean losing a tradition, which is important to many Waterbury citizens.
“Tradition is sometimes spoken as some sort of a bad word,” said Waterbury resident Lisa Walton. “But the reality is, tradition doesn’t start off as traditions. It becomes tradition because it works.”
Others at the meeting argued that the event is not representative of Waterbury’s population, leaving many voices out of the decision-making processes.
Currently, 75% of Waterbury’s population is eligible to vote, but only about 5% of residents attended this year’s Town Meeting Day meeting. By comparison, election results reported by Town Clerk Karen Petrovic showed that 1,158 of 4,567 registered voters cast ballots in the town election for an Australian ballot turnout of 25%.
Those advocating for moving more voting to Australian ballot said the low meeting turnout reflects the struggle by many to take off work, find child care, or other commitments.
“One of our speakers talked about freedom and unity to come here, but it’s a privilege to come here,” said Dani Kehlmann, former vice chair of the select board. “We should all be really uncomfortable with a 5% turnout.”
Another former select board member, Karen Miller, agreed. “Town Meeting Day is an amazing process,” Miller said. “But it is also difficult because you only have a small portion of your voting population present. Are you really representing everyone in the community?”
Continuing the discussion
Some residents who spoke during the debate admitted they are unsure of how the town should proceed, recognizing both the strengths and weaknesses of the in-person Town Meeting Day tradition.
Although the voters opted not to make a change this year, some said they are interested in exploring a broader hybrid system for future town meetings that might use Australian ballot as a way to increase participation, while holding onto the in-person meeting tradition that so many find valuable.
Photo by Gordon Miller
“There is a value for those who can attend Town Meeting Day. However, it is a privilege, and not everybody can make it,” said Waterbury resident Chris Wood. “I’m not sure if the intent of today’s meeting was to figure out an Australian ballot today, or to just to start the conversation about it.”
Making a big change to the Town Meeting Day format may seem promising to some, but many agreed that it needs more than one day of discussion to develop. Nevertheless, Waterbury citizens seem confident a solution can be reached.
“I want to keep Town Meeting Day, but I also want to include everyone,” VanTyne said. “We need to find a way to accommodate both needs.”
Community News Service is a University of Vermont journalism internship program reporting for Vermont news organizations including Waterbury Roundabout.