When we have a word ending in a single vowel and then the consonant 't', the consonant is only doubled before suffixes if that syllable is stressed. So when there is no stress we observe just a single 't'. In the following examples the stressed syllables are premarked with an apostrophe:

  • 'rocketed
  • e'licited
  • 'billeted
  • 'ratcheted
  • 'exited

However if the last syllable is stressed then we will see a doubling of the consonant:

  • ga'rotted
  • 'vetted
  • re'potted
  • a'betted
  • e'mitted

This is just a rule of thumb as there are special rules for certain prefixes, and compound words and loan words from other languages will not necessarily follow the rule.

Edit: Please also see Janus' interesting comment below about loan words with silent 't's below!