HB1470: requiring that all ballot counting devices show the number of overvotes for each race on the ballot.

HB 1470-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2022 SESSION

22-2624

11/04

HOUSE BILL 1470-FN

AN ACT requiring that all ballot counting devices show the number of overvotes for each race on the ballot.

SPONSORS: Rep. Moffett, Merr. 9

COMMITTEE: Election Law

ANALYSIS

This bill requires that all ballot counting devices show the number of overvotes for each race on the ballot.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

22-2624

11/04

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Two

AN ACT requiring that all ballot counting devices show the number of overvotes for each race on the ballot.

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

1 New Paragraph; Electronic Ballot Counting Devices; Rules. Amend RSA 656:42 by inserting after paragraph IX the following new paragraph:

X. Each electronic ballot counting device shall report the total number of overvotes for every race or question on the ballot.

2 New Subparagraph; Elections; General Content of Return. Amend RSA 659:73, IV by inserting after subparagraph (j) the following new subparagraph:

(k) For each election, contest, or ballot question, the number of machine counted overvotes.

3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

LBA

22-2624

Redraft 11/18/21

HB 1470-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

AN ACT requiring that all ballot counting devices show the number of overvotes for each race on the ballot.

FISCAL IMPACT: [ ] State [ ] County [ X ] Local [ ] None

Estimated Increase / (Decrease)

LOCAL:

FY 2022

FY 2023

FY 2024

FY 2025

Revenue

$0

$0

$0

$0

Expenditures

$0

Indeterminable

Indeterminable

Indeterminable

METHODOLOGY:

This bill requires that each electronic ballot-counting device used at state and local elections record the total number of overvotes for every race or question on the ballot. The New Hampshire Municipal Association explains an “overvote” occurs when a voter votes for more candidates for an office than instructed on the ballot, or votes both “yes” and “no” on a question; when this occurs, the votes for that office or question are not counted. The electronic ballot-counting device currently authorized for use in New Hampshire elections does not identify overvotes separately. Instead, it groups all overvotes and “undervotes” into a single tally of “blanks” for each contest. Municipalities that use ballot-counting devices pay a contractor to code the devices’ memory cards for each election. The NH Municipal Association states they do not know whether the memory cards can be coded to record overvotes separately. If they can, they assume municipal expenditures would increase, but they have no information from which they can estimate that increase.

The Department of State indicates there would be no fiscal impact on state revenues or their budget as municipalities are responsible for purchasing and maintaining ballot counting equipment including machine programming. The Department of State notes that all ballot counting devices currently used and future models being reviewed have the capability of keeping track of the number of overvotes.

It is assumed any fiscal impact would not occur until after FY 2022.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

New Hampshire Municipal Association and Department of State