Bill Text: NH HB243 | 2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Requiring the tabulation of votes in elections to be done in public.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 7-1)
Status: (Passed) 2024-07-22 - Signed by Governor Sununu 07/12/2024; Chapter 178; eff. 09/10/2024 [HB243 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2024-HB243-Amended.html
HB 243 - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
3Jan2024... 2394h
04/18/2024 1522s
2023 SESSION
23-0465
08/05
HOUSE BILL 243
AN ACT requiring the tabulation of votes in elections to be done in public.
SPONSORS: Rep. Kuttab, Rock. 17; Rep. K. Perez, Rock. 16; Rep. Sweeney, Rock. 25; Rep. Popovici-Muller, Rock. 17; Rep. Read, Rock. 10; Rep. Lynn, Rock. 17; Rep. Prudhomme-O'Brien, Rock. 13; Rep. Soti, Rock. 35
COMMITTEE: Election Law
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill requires the tabulation of votes in an election to be done in public and requires documents generated during the tabulation of votes in an election also be made available to the public.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
3Jan2024... 2394h
04/18/2024 1522s 23-0465
08/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Three
AN ACT requiring the tabulation of votes in elections to be done in public.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Counting and Tabulation of Ballots. Amend RSA 659:63 to read as follows:
659:63 Counting and Tabulation to be Public. The counting and tabulation of votes shall be public and conducted within the guardrail and shall not be adjourned nor postponed until it shall have been completed. No ballot shall be placed within 4 feet of the guardrail during the counting of votes. In this section, "tabulation" means the aggregation of results from the printed results from the voting machine and hand counts to determine the final results of an election in a polling place or at the central polling location provided in RSA 659:59. Documents generated during the tabulation of votes shall be available for public review when election results are announced at the polling place. If RSA 659:75, II applies, the printed results from the voting machine shall be posted for public review at the polling place within 60 minutes of running the last ballot through the machine or machines.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
23-0465
Amended 4/25/24
HB 243-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE (AMENDMENT #2024-1522s)
AN ACT requiring the tabulation of votes in elections to be done in public.
FISCAL IMPACT: [ ] State [ ] County [ ] Local [ X ] None
METHODOLOGY:
The Office of Legislative Budget Assistant states this bill, as amended by the Senate, has no fiscal impact on state, county and local expenditures or revenue.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of State and New Hampshire Municipal Association
