Bill Doyle shut down at Barre's polling stations

Voters in Barre City today will get to weigh in on proposed budgets for their highways and schools. But when it comes to Vermont Yankee, motorcycle-helmet laws and other issues of statewide interest, the electorate here has been silenced.
Sen. Bill Doyle’s Town Meeting Day survey, a staple at town halls since the Washington County Republican first began distributing the questionnaire 42 years ago, won’t be available at Barre’s polling stations today.
The Board of Civil Authority, which governs city elections, decided the stack of surveys Doyle planned to unload at the Barre Municipal Auditorium was tantamount to campaign material.
“It’s the saddest thing,” Rep. Tess Taylor, a Barre Democrat, said moments after casting her ballot in Ward 3. “Barre is the only community in the state that doesn’t have the Doyle Poll.”
Taylor said she had spoken with Doyle after learning of what she characterized as an unfortunate split decision that was reached by the BCA last Thursday night as the board was taking care of last-minute details.
“He’s hurt,” she said of Doyle.
We haven’t had a chance yet to speak with Doyle about the board’s decision, though we’ll have his take on its decision later today.
Election officials say Doyle was offered the opportunity to remove his name from the poll in order to sidestep what a majority of the board viewed as campaign material.
Doyle, who isn’t running for anything today, reportedly refused, and the board revoked a privilege that has been extended since the unscientific poll’s inception.