HB 1265 - AS INTRODUCED
2016 SESSION
\t16-2249
\t06/01
HOUSE BILL\t1265
AN ACT\tpermitting municipalities to adopt a system of approval voting.
SPONSORS:\tRep. Schleien, Hills. 37; Rep. Edelblut, Hills. 38; Rep. Ammon, Hills. 40
COMMITTEE:\tElection Law
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ANALYSIS
\tThis bill permits municipalities to adopt a system of approval voting.
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Explanation:\tMatter added to current law appears in bold italics.
\t\tMatter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
\t\tMatter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
\t16-2249
\t06/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Sixteen
AN ACT\tpermitting municipalities to adopt a system of approval voting.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
\t1 New Section; Powers and Duties of Towns; Approval Voting Authorized. Amend RSA 31 by inserting after section 39-d the following new section:
\t31:39-e Approval Voting Authorized. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a town may by ordinance establish and use a system of approval voting in the town's primary election. An approval voting system shall provide for the following:
\t\tI. A voter in the primary election may vote for as many candidates for a single office as such voter chooses to approve.
\t\tII. The 2 candidates who receive the highest and second highest number of votes in the primary election shall advance to the general election for that town without regard to whether any one candidate has received a majority of the votes cast for that office.
\t\tIII. The ballot and all other voting materials shall clearly state that the voter may vote for as many candidates in that election as he or she chooses and that the candidates who receive the 2 highest number of votes shall advance to the general election.
\t2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.