Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

HB 728-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2019 SESSION

19-0387

11/05

HOUSE BILL 728-FN

AN ACT relative to ranked-choice voting.

SPONSORS: Rep. Read, Rock. 17; Rep. Vann, Hills. 24; Rep. Knirk, Carr. 3; Rep. Morrill, Ches. 4; Rep. Meuse, Rock. 29; Rep. Wilhelm, Hills. 42

COMMITTEE: Election Law

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ANALYSIS

This bill establishes procedures for ranked-choice voting for federal and state offices.

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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

19-0387

11/05

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nineteen

AN ACT relative to ranked-choice voting.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Section; Ranked-Choice Voting. Amend RSA 652 by inserting after section 16-d the following new section:

652:16-e Ranked-Choice Voting. "Ranked-choice voting" means the method of casting and tabulating votes in which voters rank candidates in order of choice and tabulation proceeds in rounds, as follows:

I. Pursuant to RSA 659:61-b to determine which candidate in a state primary or general election has a plurality of votes for the election to a single-seat office, including office in a single-member representative district.

II. Pursuant to RSA 659:61-c to determine which candidates in a state primary or general election have a plurality of votes for the election to an office in a multi-member representative district.

III. Pursuant to RSA 659:61-d to determine which candidates in a presidential primary election have received a certain minimum percentage of votes.

2 Voting Materials. Amend RSA 656:6 to read as follows:

656:6 Designation of Office. Immediately to the left of the set of party columns shall be an offices column which shall list the offices, each preceded by the word "For," for which the candidates whose names are listed in the party columns have been nominated, as in "For Governor[.]" or, in the case of multi-representative districts, "For election of [here insert number to be elected] Representatives." Below each such phrase shall be printed in small but easily legible letters ["Vote for not more than ____ (here insert a number designating how many persons are to be voted for)."] "Rank candidates in order of preference."

3 Ballot Counting Devices; Testing. Amend RSA 656:42, VIII(e)(4) to read as follows:

(4) The town or city clerk shall mark the test ballots in such a way as to demonstrate a vote for each candidate on at least one test ballot, as well as votes for less than and more than the number of candidates that may be voted for an office, write-ins, multiple votes for a candidate who appears in more than one party column for the same office on a general election ballot, and ballots on which there are no votes. The clerk shall mark [as many as possible of the combinations of choices that a voter may indicate on the ballot.] as many variations or rankings as are reasonably necessary to demonstrate the accuracy of the device.

4 Marking the Ballot; Instructions to Voters. Amend RSA 659:17 to read as follows:

659:17 Marking the Ballot; Instructions to Voters. The secretary of state shall provide on the top of the general election ballot the following voting instructions. The secretary of state is authorized to replace the phrase "Make the appropriate mark" with an appropriate description and example of the [mark to be made for the type of ballot in use, such as "Make a cross (X) in the box," "Completely fill in the oval," or "Complete the arrow":] how to "Rank candidates in order of preference," such as "Completely fill in the oval":

1) To Vote

Make the appropriate mark to the right of your choice. For each office [vote for not more than the number of candidates stated in the sentence: "Vote for not more than ___." If you vote for more than the stated number of candidates, your vote for that office will not be counted.], rank the candidates in the order of your preference. If you vote for more than the stated number of candidates, your vote for that office will not be counted or, in the case of ranked-choice voting, this means that each ranking may only be used once.

2) To Vote by Write-In

To vote for a person whose name is not printed on the ballot, write in the name of the person in the "write-in" space. Make the appropriate mark to the right of your choice.

5 Optional Counting of Votes at Additional Polling Places. Amend RSA 659:59 to read as follows:

659:59 Optional Counting of Votes at Additional Polling Places. The moderator may order the assistant moderator in writing to process absentee ballots and to count the votes cast at the additional polling place in the presence of and with the assistance of the assistant town clerk and election officials in the manner prescribed by this chapter. The counting of votes in state elections at an additional polling place shall be coordinated with the counting at the central polling place in order to facilitate counting by the ranked-choice method described in RSA 659:61-a. After the processing of absentee ballots and the counting are complete, the assistant moderator shall place the counted ballots in the ballot box and shall seal it, and the assistant town clerk shall certify the same. The assistant moderator shall also seal in a package the duplicate checklists used at the additional polling place together with the absentee envelopes and the spoiled and unused ballots; and he or she, together with the assistant town clerk, shall immediately deliver the ballot box, checklists, absentee envelopes, unused and spoiled ballots, and a written report of [his] the count signed by [him] the assistant moderator and the assistant town clerk to the moderator of the town at the central polling place. If the moderator does not order the counting as provided herein, the assistant moderator shall comply with the provisions of RSA 659:62.

6 New Sections; Determination of Winner in Election for an Office Elected by Ranked-Choice Voting. Amend RSA 659 by inserting after section 61 the following new sections:

659:61-a Definitions Applied to Ranked-Choice Voting.

I. As used in this section and in RSA 659:61-b through RSA 659:61-d, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.

(a) "Active preference" means the highest continuing ranking on a continuing ballot.

(b) "Batch elimination" means the simultaneous defeat of multiple candidates because, with respect to such candidates, one of the following applies:

(i) The candidate cannot be elected because the candidate's active preference total in a round of the ranked-choice voting tabulation plus the total of all continuing ballots that could possibly be transferred to the candidate in future rounds from candidates with fewer active preferences or an equal number of active preferences would not be enough to surpass the candidate with the next higher active preference total in the round.

(ii) The candidate has a lower active preference total than a candidate described in subparagraph I(b)(i).

(d) "Continuing candidate" means a candidate who has not been defeated or, in a multi-member representative district, who is not an elected candidate.

(e) "Elected candidate" means a candidate determined to be a winner in a multi-member representative district.

(f) "Election threshold" means the number of active preferences sufficient for a candidate to be elected in a multi-member representative district, equal to the quotient of the number of continuing ballots in the first round of counting divided by the number of candidates to be elected in a particular multi-member representative district plus one, such quotient rounded down to