HB 406 - AS INTRODUCED
2021 SESSION
21-0525
11/05
HOUSE BILL 406
AN ACT relative to the ability of the public to observe the processing and counting of
absentee ballots.
SPONSORS: Rep. Love, Rock. 6; Rep. Prudhomme-O'Brien, Rock. 6; Rep. Pitre, Straf. 2; Rep.
Wallace, Rock. 12
COMMITTEE: Election Law
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ANALYSIS
This bill requires that the public be permitted to observe the processing and counting of absentee
ballots.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
 HB 406 - AS INTRODUCED
21-0525
11/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One
AN ACT relative to the ability of the public to observe the processing and counting of
absentee ballots.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 1 Counting of Votes; Absentee Ballots. Amend RSA 659:63 to read as follows:
2 659:63 Counting to be Public.
3 I. The counting of votes shall be public and conducted within the guardrail and shall not be
4 adjourned nor postponed until it shall have been completed. No ballot shall be placed within 4 feet
5 of the guardrail during the counting of votes.
6 II. Members of the public shall be permitted to observe the processing and counting
7 of absentee ballots without obstruction and from a distance of 6 feet from such processing
8 and counting.
9 2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.


Statutes affected:
Introduced: 659:63
latest version: 659:63