History
Winston Allen Flint, writing in The Progressive Movement in Vermont,
noted that “no serious attempt was ever made in Vermont” to get a
statewide initiative process: “There is little evidence to show that it was
given any important recognition in Vermont by party platforms, legislators,
press, or public opinion. “
In 1981 and 1982, however, Vermonters used their local initiative
process in over 200 town meetings to vote on a resolution calling for U.S. -
Soviet nuclear arms freeze. More than 160 towns backed the freeze,
which therefore had much the same effect as a statewide initiative.
Excerpted from the Initiative & Referendum Almanac by M. Dane Waters.