What is the difference between the official ballot and the official ballot referendum town meeting?
A. A few of New Hampshire’s smaller towns still use the unofficial ballot system for electing town officers, whereby nominations of candidates are by motion from the floor of the town meeting and paper ballots are used by meeting voters to write the name of the person they want to elect to that position. RSA 669:54 through 669:60. The official ballot system for the election of town officers is sometimes referred to as the Australian ballot. Any town may vote to adopt the partisan or non-partisan official ballot system for election of town officers. The vast majority of towns have adopted the nonpartisan official ballot. One of the defining characteristics of any official ballot system is the requirement of provisions for absentee voting. In towns that have adopted an official ballot system, the town election is conducted in the same manner as a state general election, as provided in RSA Chapter 658 and 659. The official ballot referendum system must be adopted by voters under the provi
