This bill amends RSA 659:63 to mandate that the counting and tabulation of votes in elections be conducted publicly. It clarifies that the process must continue without adjournment or postponement until completion and that no ballot should be within four feet of the guardrail during the count. The bill introduces new legal language defining "tabulation" as the aggregation of results from printed voting machine outputs and hand counts to determine the final election results at a polling place or central polling location. Additionally, it stipulates that documents generated during the tabulation of votes must be available for public review when election results are announced at the polling place. Furthermore, if RSA 659:75, II applies, the printed results from the voting machine must be posted for public review at the polling place within 60 minutes of processing the last ballot.

The bill also includes an effective date section, stating that the act shall take effect 60 days after its passage. The approval date of the bill is July 12, 2024, which means the effective date for the new requirements is September 10, 2024. This ensures that there is a clear timeline for when the new provisions regarding the public tabulation of votes and the availability of related documents will be implemented.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 659:63
As Amended by the House: 659:63
As Amended by the Senate: 659:63
Version adopted by both bodies: 659:63
CHAPTERED FINAL VERSION: 659:63