This bill amends existing laws regarding petitioned articles at annual or special town and school board meetings. It introduces provisions that allow the written application for a petitioned article to identify a primary petitioner, who will be granted a minimum of 10 minutes to introduce their warrant articles during the meeting. If no primary petitioner is specified in the application, the first registered voter listed will automatically be designated as the primary petitioner. This change is reflected in the amendments to RSA 39:3, RSA 197:2, and RSA 197:6.

Additionally, the bill clarifies that the selectmen or school board must insert the petitioned article into the meeting warrant upon receiving a written application from a specified number of registered voters. The amendments ensure that minor textual changes can be made to the articles without altering their intended effect. The bill also emphasizes that the right to have an article included in the warrant is not invalidated by other provisions in RSA 32. The act is set to take effect 60 days after its passage.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 39:3, 197:2, 197:6, 40:7
As Amended by the Senate: 39:3, 197:2, 197:6, 40:7