HB693 Relative to ballot counting procedures and permitting the hand counting of ballots.
Relative to ballot counting procedures and permitting the hand counting of ballots.
Impact Score — How Does This Bill Affect You?
Overall Impact Score
Concerning
Scale: 1 (harmful) to 10 (beneficial)
Your Wallet
Towns may face indeterminable but potentially significant cost increases (hundreds to thousands per polling location) for additional election worker hours, training, and materials with no state funding provided.
Your Community
Local election administration could be substantially slowed and more resource-intensive, potentially affecting election day operations and timely result reporting without clear guidance on implementation.
Your Freedom
Voters gain an additional choice in how their ballot is counted, and towns gain discretion to conduct supplemental hand counts, expanding procedural flexibility around vote counting methods.
Status
Inexpedient to Legislate: Motion Adopted Voice Vote 01/07/2026 House Journal 1 P. 50
Sponsor
Susan Porcelli (R)
The Short Version
This bill allows individual voters to request hand counting of their ballots instead of using electronic counting devices, and permits town officials to conduct supplemental hand counts or hand count ballots that weren't processed by machines. The Department of State warns this could significantly increase election worker hours and costs for towns, ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars per polling location if many voters request hand counting.
Who's Behind This Bill?
Who Benefits
- ▲ Voters who distrust or prefer not to use electronic ballot counting devices
- ▲ Town officials who wish to conduct post-election hand counts to verify results
Who Pays the Price
- ▼ Town and city budgets, which must absorb indeterminate increases in election worker labor costs
- ▼ Election workers who may face significantly longer election days if hand counting requests are substantial
Bill statuses as of October 7, 2026. Check LegiScan or NH General Court for the latest.
This bill was auto-scored using AI analysis of the bill text and legislative data. Scores may be refined as we review more bills.