Senator James Gray, prime sponsor of Senate Bill 16, told the committee the bill would require municipalities to post on their websites a copy of the election return form they submit to the Secretary of State so that write-in totals and other details are publicly accessible.

"The return of votes that you send to the secretary of state lists the people and then it lists all the write ins," Senator James Gray said. "Simply by posting a copy of that, we can take care of the situation, and the people will see who was voted for."

Supporters of public access said the change would increase transparency. Autumn Rasha Goodwin, program coordinator for Open Democracy (speaking on behalf of executive director Olivia Zink), said a 2022 survey found 98 towns posted election results on their websites while 127 did not, and she called the bill a step toward consistent access.

Municipal officials and the New Hampshire Municipal Association urged the committee to clarify the bill's posting requirements so it would not impose heavy burdens on smaller towns that lack websites. Margaret Burns, executive director of the New Hampshire Municipal Association, said municipalities want transparency but asked the committee to work on an amended version that addresses posting locations and burdens for towns without websites.

Deputy Secretary of State Erin Hennessey told the committee the office would be willing to assist and cautioned that some language changes could have effects elsewhere in election law. Committee members also discussed whether the bill requires posting to social media accounts and whether the bill, as drafted, effectively imposes a requirement to post in multiple locations; the sponsor said he is willing to work with the committee on technical fixes, including how long postings must remain online.

Why it matters: The bill responds to voter questions about how to find write-in information and aims to standardize public access to the same forms municipal clerks already file with the Secretary of State.

Next steps: The sponsor and municipal stakeholders signaled willingness to negotiate amendments to address towns that lack websites and to clarify how many and which locations constitute required posting. No committee vote was recorded in the transcript.