Election Law

HB 1396 amends New Hampshire law to prohibit filling vacancies in the state House of Representatives. Specifically, it revises RSA 661:10 to state that "if a vacancy occurs in the office of state representative... the vacancy shall not be filled." This policy change directly affects constituents in the affected district, as the seat remains vacant until the next general election. The bill does not apply to other offices like state senators or executive councilors, which retain existing vacancy procedures under different constitutional provisions. The change takes effect 60 days after enactment.

HB 1418 requires that in towns and school districts using the official ballot referendum system (SB 2 towns), any new or expanded spending proposal - such as a town operating budget or school district appropriation - must meet two conditions to pass: at least 15% of registered voters must cast ballots on the proposal, and a majority of those voting must approve it. This applies specifically to municipalities that have adopted the official ballot meeting format under RSA 40:13. The bill does not change spending amounts but sets a minimum voter participation and approval threshold for budget decisions. It takes effect 60 days after enactment.

SB 103 requires towns and cities in New Hampshire to maintain at least one polling station for every 20,000 registered voters during presidential election general elections, unless they obtain prior approval from the Secretary of State for fewer locations. This directly affects municipalities with over 20,000 registered voters as of January 1, 2026 - including Concord, Manchester, Nashua, and others listed in the bill's analysis. The bill mandates this minimum polling station ratio for presidential elections only, with no impact on the Secretary of State's budget. Local governments unable to secure approval may face additional costs between $10,000 and $100,000 for setting up new polling locations.

This bill grants election moderators in New Hampshire the authority to conduct a hand count of ballots to verify machine-tabulated vote totals for any election race. If the hand count differs from the machine count, the hand count results must be used for certification, and the moderator must report the discrepancy to the city or town clerk. The clerk is then required to publicly post both the machine count, hand count, and the difference within 7 days on municipal websites and social media. The bill directly affects local election officials and the verification process for municipal election results.

HB 1329 requires New Hampshire's Secretary of State to include voters' ages in the public voter file. This change directly affects political parties, political committees, and candidates for office, who can now request voter lists containing age data upon request. The bill amends existing law to add "age" to the list of information (alongside name, address, and party affiliation) that must be provided to these groups. The Secretary of State will continue to charge standard fees for these lists, with the new data becoming available 60 days after the bill's passage.