at Town Meetings in New Hampshire. “Sometimes, there’s a small group of people who like to hijack a Town Meeting (with secret ballot requests),” said Patten. “If more people were involved in requesting a secret ballot, it might not prolong meetings.” In the original proposition, in a Town Meeting with a population of more than 500, 50 voters, rather than five, who are present at the meeting, would be required to make a request for a secret ballot, and 25 would be required to conduct a recount of any such ballots. For a town with a population of 500 or less, 10 voters would be required for secret balloting or recounting. Patten said that in the committee hearings, the figure they discussed for the required amount had been brought down to “10 or 15, or five percent.” “We came no closer than that to talking about whether they actually like it or not,” said Patten. Under present law, the five people who sign a request to hold a secret ballot must be present at the Town Meeting for the request to go through. Chair Karel Crawford said that if the board was in agreement, they would sign a letter of support to send. The board agreed, and authorized Town Administrator Carter Terenzini to draft the letter. If passed, the bill would not take effect for another 60 days. With the next hearing on the subject set tentatively for executive session at the end of this month, any action on the bill would not affect this year’s Town Meeting. Not everyone agrees with Patten’s attempt to raise the number of people requiredfor such a vote. Jim Leiterman of Moultonboro attended the hearing in Concord, and said he disagreed with raising the requirement. “To get five people is difficult, and when things are difficult, to try to deprive citizens of being able to have a secret ballot?” said Leiterman. “This is not just about Moultonboro, but a statewide initiative.” Leiterman also disagreed with the initial “unreasonable” requirement of 50 people, when the representatives brought the number down to 10 or 15 in discussions. He said that the bill should have begun with a requirement “within reason.” At the 2008 School District and Town Meeting of Moultonboro, several residents requested that all warrant articles calling for more than a certain amount of funding be put to secret ballot. After several hours of deliberation and several secret ballots, the residents requesting the secret ballots told the moderator that they withdrew their
requests.
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