Town Meeting Day 2023 Was a Success!

A note from CCTV’s Marketing & Outreach Coordinator Emily Brewer — Wow! What an election season! I am always amazed by how quickly the months leading up to election day fly by. All of the prep and hard work that Town Meeting TV staff and volunteers put in to make our election coverage happen is truly remarkable. But that hard work wouldn’t pay off without the support of our neighbors and community members who power local democracy year after year. So THANK YOU from all of us here at CCTV & Town Meeting TV for your ongoing trust and support! We will always be your election connection, so stay tuned for Essex Junction election coverage in the coming weeks.

Live Forums:

Our annual local election coverage always starts with live candidate forums and budget & ballot item presentations. For Town Meeting Day 2023, we successfully hosted and covered 35 forums, presentations, and community-led events. The goal of election forums is to connect voters with local decision-makers so they can have a better understanding of candidates and items on the ballot before they head to the polls.

Check out the full list of completed forums for 2023 Town Meeting Day elections here: bit.ly/TownMeeting2023

Thank you to Town Meeting TV Director Jordan Mitchell for organizing, scheduling, and producing this year's election forums. Additional thanks to CCTV Co-Director Meghan O’Rourke for creating questions and providing production support, Senior Producer Kevin Harms for directing and switching, and TMTV staff Travis Washington, Kate Heppner, and Scott Moody for floor directing. Finally, thank you to all of our moderators for stepping up to the plate and making sure all of our forums run smoothly and fairly. Bobby Lussier, Sinéad Murray, KeruBo Webster, Bridget Higdon, Elaine Haney, Meghan O’Rourke, Lauren-Glenn Davitian, and Emily Brewer — you are all rockstars! Thank you for volunteering your time.

Exit Voices:

One of our favorite aspects of election coverage that’s always a hit are the “exit voices” interviews we conduct at the polls on election day. We send several teams of staff and volunteers out to polling places around Chittenden County bright and early so we can capture the voices of voters at the poll. A common thread that we revisit year after year is why people come out to vote in the first place. It’s always fascinating to hear what motivates folks to go to the polls, as well as what issues people care about most in their communities. 

Keep your eye on our “Elections” collection of programs on our website for full interviews from voters around Chittenden County as soon as they are uploaded: www.cctv.org/watch-tv/series/elections 

Thank you to Media Educator & Production Associate Travis Washington for coordinating exit voices teams and locations. Thanks to Meghan O’Roruke and Media & Video Systems Engineer Naomi Honiker for filming interviews in Burlington’s Central (Wards 2 & 3) and North (Wards 4 & 7) Districts. Thanks to Travis Washington and our interns for filming interviews in Burlington’s South (Wards 5 & 6) and East (Wards 1 & 8) Districts. Thanks to Development Director Bobby Lussier and Senior Field Producer/Production Associate Scott Moody for filming interviews in Winooski, Essex, and South Burlington. And finally, thanks to Scott Moody, Kate Heppner, and Meghan O’Rourke for editing the exit voices interviews in time for our election results show!

Live Results Reporting & Interactive Module:

For local Chittenden County elections, Town Meeting TV is one of the only sources that aggregates election results in real-time straight from poll workers and town clerks after the polls close. This is no simple task! It takes a village to gather results from polling places all over Chittenden County, but we always make it happen. Those results are immediately entered into an interactive election module that is easily accessible by members of the public.

Take a look at the module with election results from Burlington, South Burlington, Winooski, Williston, Essex, and Colchester: https://results.townmeeting.tv/?ev=tmd23 

Thank you to CCTV Co-Director Lauren-Glenn Davitian for coordinating the results-gathering process. Thanks to Digital Video Engineer Luna Zeitlyn for setting up the module. Thanks to Erin Malone, Kirby Dunn, Jane Knodell, Mary Simons, and Liz Curry for tabulating results as soon as they came in. Thanks to all of our fabulous poll reporters for providing us with timely results: (Burlington) Erhard Mahnke, Solveig Overby, Charlie Giannoni, Isabel Brown, Jane Van Buren, Peter Keating, Jeff Comstock, Alex Friend, (South Burlington) Meaghan Emery, Tim Barritt, UVM intern Waseya Lawton, and (Essex) Amy Hamlin. Finally, thank you to the Town Clerks of Burlington, South Burlington, Essex, Winooski, Williston, and Colchester for providing us with results as well. Your effort is greatly appreciated and does not go unnoticed! 

Live Results Show:

The culmination of everyone’s hard work is Town Meeting TV’s annual LIVE election results show! Every year, Town Meeting TV produces a dynamic election night show that provides viewers with access to local results as soon as the polls close, insightful political commentary, interviews with newly elected representatives, and conversations with voters at the polls. All of these segments come together to create a comprehensive election results show that community members and voters can look forward to watching year after year.

This year’s Town Meeting Day election night program has surpassed 1,000 views! We are so appreciative of the support we have received from our friends, neighbors, and fellow community members. Our mission to open the doors to local democracy would not be possible without YOU! So sincerely, THANK YOU for your continued support of community media!

If you haven’t already seen the show, please take a moment to check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/live/EovrpIkJqXw?feature=share. 

Thank you to Tyler Barnes (South Burlington), Lydia Diamond (South Burlington), Gary Golden (Burlington), Charles Judge (Winooski), Bryn Oakleaf (Winooski), Mayor Kristine Lott (Winooski), Alexander Yin (Winooski), Melo Grant (Burlington), Andrew Chalnick (South Burlington), Joan Shannon (Burlington), Gene Bergman (Burlington), Mark Barlow (Burlington), and Jimmy Leas (South Burlington) for taking the time to come into our studio to speak with us on election night. Check out our results program to hear the conversations we had with them! Thank you to Scott Moody and CCTV Board Member Mary Simons for going out into the field and recording interviews with Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger and City Council President Karen Paul. Thank you to Bobby Lussier for skillfully hosting Studio B and VLJP intern Anna Siegel for operating the Studio B camera.

Our results program was a great success thanks to the inspiring dedication of our staff, volunteers, and interns.

Thank you to Content Curator/Production Associate Kate Heppner for project managing ahead of election day, and producing on election night. Thanks to Kevin Harms for directing in the studio and Jordan Mitchell for floor managing. Thanks to Luna Zeitlyn for technical direction and Naomi Honiker for technical coordination. Thanks to Kate Heppner for coordinating graphics and Travis Washington for creating live graphics during the show. Thanks to Meghan O’Rourke for coordinating our guests. Thanks to Vermont Language Justice Project Director Alison Segar for moral support and camera operation. Thank you to Archivist Chris Laviolette for running the results ticker. Thanks to UVM intern Evan Fredericks for live-tweeting on election night. And finally, thank you to Emily Brewer for coordinating social media coverage.

A final and huge thank you to CCTV Board Secretary Shay Totten for providing commentary and co-hosting Studio A alongside Emily Brewer. Being on the air for 2+ hours is no easy feat!

We look forward to being your election connection for next year’s Town Meeting Day! Stay tuned!

P.S. Our election results are a great resource for local journalists — our “unofficial results” were referenced in this Seven Days article: https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/burlington-voters-reject-police-oversight-ballot-item/Content?oid=37718838