SB44 Relative to hand counts of ballots in elections.
Relative to hand counts of ballots in elections.
Impact Score — How Does This Bill Affect You?
Overall Impact Score
Concerning
Scale: 1 (harmful) to 10 (beneficial)
Your Wallet
Hand counting is dramatically more expensive and labor-intensive than machine counting, requiring many more workers and hours at taxpayer expense.
Your Community
Hand counting is slower, more error-prone, and delays election results. Research shows it is less accurate than machine counting, not more.
Your Freedom
Motivated by election integrity concerns, but hand counting does not improve accuracy and could undermine confidence through delayed and inconsistent results.
Status
Inexpedient to Legislate: Motion Adopted Voice Vote 01/07/2026 House Journal 1 P. 50
Sponsor
Kevin Avard (R)
The Short Version
Would have required or allowed hand counting of ballots in elections, reflecting concerns about electronic ballot counting machines. Killed via voice vote.
Who's Behind This Bill?
Who Benefits
- ▲ Election conspiracy theorists who distrust machines
Who Pays the Price
- ▼ Taxpayers paying for much more expensive counting
- ▼ Town clerks and election workers
- ▼ Voters waiting longer for accurate results
Bill statuses as of May 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.