1916 Referenda

1916: The Direct Primary

Background/Issue

See 1914 referendum on primary elections and the Archives' history of the Direct Primary.

Referendum

Act 4 of 1915 (An Act to Provide for Primary Elections) was approved April 1, 1915. It created a direct primary system. A referendum provided voters a choice between effective dates; a yes vote meant that the law would take effect on March 20, 1916, while a no vote delayed the effective date to March 20, 1927. The vote was to be on town meeting day (March 7), 1916.

The early effective date passed by a 2,602 vote margin, 25,418 to 22,816. Essex, Orange, Rutland, Windham and Windsor Counties voted no, as did a majority of the towns.

Results

Vermont held its first primaries in 1916.

Thomas Martin of Brookfield was denied a vote in the referendum because he owed the town delinquent taxes. In Martin v. Fulham, 90 Vt. 163 (1916) the Vermont Supreme Court ruled Martin should have been allowed to vote since the referendum was a state, not town, election.

An effort to repeal the primary in the 1923 legislature failed.

The primary allowed nomination by a plurality of the vote, rather than a majority. This advantaged the larger communities. One early sign was that the larger municipalities began to dominate the election of state senators where previously senate seats had been passed around among the towns of a county (the county's population center being accorded one, but not all, of the seats). The plurality provision also opened state nomination to mavericks who could never have been nominated under the caucus system. A prime example was Percival Clement who had bolted the party in 1902 and 1906; in 1918 he captured the Republican gubernatorial nomination with 37% of the primary vote.

1916: Prohibiting the Sale of Intoxicating Liquor

Background/Issue

See referenda of 1847-53 and 1903. Though Vermont voted for local option in 1903, thus ending statewide prohibition, temperance supporters remained active. In 1915 they passed an act restoring statewide prohibition.

Referendum

Act 171 of 1915, enacted March 12th, called for the prohibition of the sale or furnishing of intoxicating liquors in Vermont. The act provided two effective dates to be decided by referendum held at town meeting, 1916 (the same day as the direct primary referendum). A yes vote would mean the act would take effect on May 1, 1916; a no vote would delay effect until May 1, 1927.

On March 7, 1916 the no vote prevailed by 13,489 votes, 18,653 to 32,142. Only Orleans County voted for the early enactment date.

Results

The temperance law was repealed on January 23, 1917 by Act 234. On January 19, 1919 national prohibition was ratified through the 18th amendment without Vermont's vote.