MIDDLESEX, Vt. (AP) — Another casualty of the coronavirus pandemic could be the centuries-old tradition of the New England town meeting. The basis of the town meeting is to bring everyone together in the same room, frequently a town hall or school gymnasium, where voters will hash out local issues until a decision is made. Some worry changes developed to make local decisions during the pandemic could become permanent and people will no longer have to gather in gymnasiums and town halls to decide issues as varied as the purchase of local road equipment to multimillion-dollar municipal budgets to pressing social issues. Others say moving to pre-printed ballots allows more people to participate.
Could pandemic further erode the New England town meeting?
