Select Board records recommendation on petition asking New Hampshire General Court to create independent redistricting commission

Tamworth — A petition before the Select Board on Feb. 10 asked the town to request the New Hampshire General Court to establish an independent redistricting commission. The article is advisory and, if adopted by the town, would transmit a record of the Select Board's vote to state legislative leadership.

The petition text, which met the 25-signature requirement to appear on the warrant, proposes that the town ask the state to establish a citizen-led, independent commission to draw electoral maps to reduce partisan gerrymandering and increase transparency. At the hearing residents and board members discussed other states' approaches (participants named Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Montana and Washington) and whether the petition would be binding on the legislature.

Town staff and Select Board members clarified that the petition would be advisory: it would transmit the record of the town's vote to the New Hampshire General Court but would not itself change state law. Several residents asked how commissioners would be chosen and how independence would be verified; a Select Board member noted that states structure commissions differently and that specifics would be determined at the state level if the legislature adopted such a change.

Outcome and next steps: The Select Board recorded its recommendation and confirmed that, if adopted at Town Meeting, the record of the town vote would be transmitted in writing to the governor and members of the New Hampshire General Court. The board's recommendation does not bind the legislature; the petition is advisory and intended to express the town voters' preference to state lawmakers.