Last week we delved into what town meetings are about, alongside their role in local journalism. This week we continue to explore the intricacies of annual town meetings and town meeting elections. How can you get involved? Where can you get information? On this episode of “The State We’re In,” New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan helps us find out how the average person can participate and take decisive action in their local community.
By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew
Melanie Plenda:
First, let's take a step back. For our audience who may be unfamiliar with them, how did town meetings begin? How have they changed and evolved?
David Scanlan:
Well, town meeting is rooted from our colonial past, and when the settlers came over to this continent and they started to congregate and form townships and communities, there had to be a way for the people in those communities to make decisions about how they were going to handle the affairs of the community. That's basically how town meetings got started. It became a formal process because there had to be some ground rules on how meetings would take place.
Melanie Plenda:
Do some New Hampshire towns still have a traditional annual town meeting?
David Scanlan:
Yes, many still have this, mostly the smaller towns, but even some of the larger ones still have a traditional town meeting, and the format is basically the same as it was 300 years ago. I've attended many of those deliberative types of meetings, and they're fascinating. It's great entertainment, if nothing else. But effectively it brings the community together, allows them to discuss important issues to the community and come to a resolution on them.
Melanie Plenda:
What is the secretary of state’s role in town meetings across New Hampshire?
David Scanlan:
Well, town meetings are just that. They're there for the local communities and political subdivisions in New Hampshire. The secretary of state really does not have a role in that process, other than there are state statutes that apply to elections generally.
The participants in any election are maintained on the statewide voter registration database. Then there are laws on the books related to electioneering and campaigning and things similar that we're kind of responsible for. The important thing is we act as a resource to the towns on the best way to conduct their elections. What the different roles are of election officials — the moderator, the clerk, supervisors of the checklist — and we're there primarily for support.
Melanie Plenda:
What do residents need to vote? Can they still register?
David Scanlan:
The town meeting is actually in two parts. There is the voting part for officers. The town election is an election. To vote and participate in that election, a person must be on the voter checklist, and towns also have election day registration, so somebody in town who wants to participate that is not registered can do that on the day of the town election.
The requirements have become a little more strict for registration. A voter has to prove four things: identity, age, citizenship and domicile. And when a voter registers, they have to bring documentation that proves each of those qualifications. There's a list on the secretary of state website if voters want to see that.
The other part of town meeting, then, is the deliberative part, and that is where the voters outside of the election process come together physically in a group. They will take up the articles that are placed on the town warrant. So prior to the deliberative session, there's an opportunity for the selectmen — the governing body of the town — to present the articles that they want to have discussed, like the town budget and other important things. Then there's an opportunity for petition warrant articles, which can be any topic that the members of the community want to discuss. And then that is publicized in advance of the meeting. Only those articles on the warrant can be discussed and acted on at the meeting, and the moderators are responsible for taking those up, one by one — having a debate, making any amendments, voting them up or down, and then moving on to the next article.
Melanie Plenda:
How can a citizen looking to get involved with their local community access information about the annual town meeting and the town election?
David Scanlan:
In close proximity to the meeting itself, obtain a copy of the town warrant, which is published in a form that is called the annual report. There's a lot of really useful information in there — a lot of it maybe not so useful, but really, really interesting facts about the town. It will have the budget published, so you can see where the town plans to spend money over the next year. All of the articles that are going to be taken up at town meeting will be on the warrant, and many of them publish statistics of how many births there were, how many deaths.There might be ceremonial recognitions for people who have made major contributions to the town. It’s a pretty fascinating document.
Towns have great participation from the citizens of the town, and it is easy to participate by getting elected to the planning board, the conservation commission, the budget committee, or the cemetery agent. There are many, many elected positions in town government that may interest people, and it is very interesting to serve on those. I've served in many committees at the local level myself, and it's a very, very rewarding experience. It gives you a better understanding of how the town handles its affairs, and you get to meet the other great people that live in your community.
Melanie Plenda:
Can you tell us a little bit more about what deliberative sessions are and how they relate to town meeting elections, and if someone is able to attend the deliberative session can they still vote?
David Scanlan:
Well, every town meeting has some form of a deliberative component.
In a traditional town meeting, the people that want to participate and vote on the issues show up at the town hall or school gymnasium — wherever the meeting is going to be held. And then it is an opportunity for the voters in that town to express their positions, feelings and concerns about any one of the topics that are going to come up in the form of an article at that meeting. In a traditional town meeting, after the discussion is over and any amendments are made, there is a final vote that's up or down and it becomes the position of the town if they’re passed. If they don’t pass, people can try again the following year.
In a Senate Bill 2 town, or an official ballot voting town, there is a deliberative session where voters come together again in a single location, and they discuss the issues. They maybe offer amendments, but then when the discussion is finished there is not a final vote taken at that point in time. Instead, the article in its final form is actually placed on the official ballot, on the paper ballot that will be distributed on the day of the election, when the officers of the town are elected. And then the people will get to vote in the voting booth on each one of the articles that was presented. That gives an opportunity for more people to actually participate in the actual final vote of the town because people can show up at the polling place at their convenience during the polling hours and vote on those issues, as opposed to having to set aside two or three hours on a Tuesday night or a Saturday afternoon to attend the town meeting.
There is no opportunity, really, for remote participation in the deliberative part of town meetings. Part of that is because those articles can be amended, and you really can't vote by absentee, or whatever, on items that might change before the final vote is taken. So at the moment, people have to be physically present at the deliberative session to participate. Now, with the increase in technology, there are probably opportunities that exist now for people to view the actual deliberative session in real time, but there are no opportunities presently that exist that allow people to actually vote remotely on the articles that are being presented.
Melanie Plenda:
What about you? Does your town have an annual town meeting or town meeting election and will you be participating?
David Scanlan:
My town has a traditional town meeting, both for town and school district affairs, and I do participate in those. They're fascinating to me. It's a study on human nature. It's great to see people that maybe are timid and shy that feel so strongly about an issue that they build the courage to get up and speak — and that's important, and it's important that people feel that they can express their views without intimidation and pressure. And it's the moderator’s job to make sure that the discussion during a deliberative session is controlled to the point that there's no heckling and clapping, and things like that
There can be a lot of drama, and there can be a lot of humor too. I've seen some moderators in the past that have a quick wit and can get the place laughing, and a lot of times that diminishes the tension that sometimes builds on really critical issues that might have strong opposing sides.
Melanie Plenda:
On that note, any final thoughts you want to share with people about town meetings?
David Scanlan:
It is a great process, and I think that those of us that live in New England and in the original 13 colonies are fortunate to have this process that has developed and withstood the test of centuries. It's an amazing process. The further west that you go, the less and less the voters in those places have the same opportunities that we have to have these really great conversations about how the town affairs should be run.
Melanie Plenda:
Thank you New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan.
“The State We’re In” is a weekly digital public affairs show produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin Pierce University. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members. These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.