Committee reviews broad 'elections miscellaneous' draft including ranked‑choice pilot, electronic returns and write‑in registration

A legislative counsel presented draft 1.5 of an “elections miscellaneous” bill to the House Committee on Government Operations & Military Affairs, outlining a package of changes that would pilot ranked‑choice voting (RCV) for major parties’ 2028 presidential primary, expand mailed ballots to primaries, permit certain electronic ballot returns, tighten write‑in candidate rules and change several campaign finance and local‑election procedures.

The bill “proposes to institute rank choice voting for the 2028 presidential primary election for each major political party, but sunset the same law on 07/01/2029,” legislative counsel Tim Devlin told the committee. The draft describes the RCV methodology as the instant runoff voting (IRV) system and places the mechanics and tabulation instructions in an appendix and new statutory sections for presidential primaries.

Why it matters: The draft bundles statewide changes (presidential primary rules, mail and electronic ballots, campaign finance thresholds, voter‑checklist audits) with numerous local‑election amendments (municipal meeting rules, appointment/election of local officers and petition timing). Committee members and municipal clerks flagged implementation, cost and confidentiality issues that would affect clerks, voters with disabilities, overseas voters and town operations if adopted.

Key provisions and how they would work

- Ranked‑choice voting pilot: Sections 1–4 would require the 2028 presidential primary for each major party be conducted using RCV (IRV), with a statutory sunset on July 1, 2029. The bill directs the Secretary of State to adopt implementing rules and to ensure canvassing and tally forms accommodate RCV.

- Mail ballots for primaries: The draft would expand the statutory mailing of ballots to include regular primary elections as well as…