Australian Ballot/SB2

Warrant Article Voting by Official Ballot (aka the Australian Ballot)

in New Hampshire Towns

By Robert G. Eaton

Town Moderator – Rye, New Hampshire

In 1995, the New Hampshire Legislature passed what is popularly known, after

the Senate bill that engendered it, as “SB2”. SB2, codified at RSA 40:13, permits towns

to adopt “the official ballot for voting on all issues before the voters” at the same time

they elect local officials. Adoption of SB2 requires a 3/5 majority vote at the polls.

Similarly, after a town adopts SB2, a 3/5 majority is needed to rescind it. Under SB2, the

annual town meeting is divided into two sessions that are held about a month apart. The

first session, known as the “Deliberative Session”, “consist[s] of explanation, discussion,

and debate of each warrant article.” There is no up or down vote on warrant articles at

the first session, that being reserved for the second session – the official ballot on election

day. SB2 official balloting is available to both towns and school districts. It is said that

SB2 was enacted for two primary reasons: (1) in today’s busy world, many people do not

have time to participate in a town meeting lasting many hours and perhaps over several

days, but still want to vote on warrant articles; and (2) a popular belief that taxes would

go down if budgets were defeated at the polls through increased voter participation,

particularly by seniors who go south for the winter and cannot attend town meeting, but

could cast absentee ballots.

A 2007 study1

found that since it was enacted in 1995, of 219 New Hampshire

towns, 57 had adopted SB2. There had been 22 votes to rescind SB2 after it was adopted,

but only three were successful. 28 towns voted not to adopt SB2. 69 New Hampshire

school districts also adopted SB2, while 19 declined to do so. There were 25 attempts to

rescind SB2 in New Hampshire school districts; none were successful. By 2009, 63

towns and 73 school districts had adopted SB2.2

Towns adopting SB2 tend to be larger –

SB2 towns have an average population of 7,500; non-SB2 towns have about 2,600

residents. SB2 towns also grew three times faster between 1990 and 2000 than non-SB2

towns.

As the statistics show, once SB2 is adopted, it is hard to bring back the traditional

town meeting. The reasons for this are three-fold. First, 3/5 of the voters must choose to

do so. Second, RSA 40:13 requires the rescission question to be framed in language that

might make one think he or she is giving up the right to vote on warrant articles

altogether. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it is hard to get any majority, let alone

a 3/5 one, when 80% of the voters deciding the question do not come to town meeting.

That 80%, arguably, is being asked to disenfranchise itself. Thus, it is no surprise that

only three of 45 rescission attempts have been successful.

D. Delay, SB2 Adoption and Rescission Votes: 1996-2006, New Hampshire Center for Public Policy

Studies, www.nhpolicy.org/reports/sb2_referenda_02_07.pdf (March 2007).

See statistics regarding the adoption and rescission of SB2 by the New Hampshire Department of

Revenue Administration, www.nh.gov/revenue/munc_prop/SenateBill2Municipalites.htm (Jan. 23, 2009)