Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

HB 514 - AS INTRODUCED
                                             2021 SESSION
                                                                                             21-0792
                                                                                             11/04
HOUSE BILL             514
AN ACT            relative to ballot column rotation.
SPONSORS:         Rep. Wells, Merr. 25; Rep. Hill, Merr. 3
COMMITTEE:        Election Law
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                                               ANALYSIS
    This bill repeals the requirement that the average deviation from equal rotation for first party
column position on ballots be no greater than one percent.
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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                 Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.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 514 - AS INTRODUCED
                                                                                            21-0792
                                                                                            11/04
                                          STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
                                In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One
     AN ACT               relative to ballot column rotation.
                Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1        1 Preparation of Voting Materials; Ballots; Party Columns. Amend RSA 656:5, III to read as
2    follows:
3               III. The generic column rotation plans shall be based on a reasonably balanced rotation of
4    party columns within and across all non-floterial state representative districts, those being the
5    smallest representative districts to which each voting place is apportioned pursuant to part I, article
6    11 of the New Hampshire constitution. Consideration shall also be given to reasonably minimize
7    any obvious, substantial, and avoidable imbalances in column rotation within senate districts. [The
8    average deviation from equal rotation for the first party column position, measured across the state
9    as a whole and based on population according to the last decennial federal census, shall be as close to
10   0 percent as is practicable but in no event greater than 1 percent.] Once generic column rotation
11   plans are established the secretary of state shall publish such plans to the department's website.
12       2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 656:5
latest version: 656:5