HB 1429 · 2026 · House · Election Law Committee
Pausing hand-counted ballot tallies
AI-generatedrelative to the of hand-counting ballots at large polling places.
Enables ballot counting to be paused under certain circumstances at large polling places.AI-generated
Status
Killed in the House — Inexpedient to Legislate · February 19, 2026- ✓Introduced
- ✕House
- Senate
- Governor
- Law
Analysis
This bill enables ballot counting to be paused in certain circumstances.
From the bill's official ANALYSIS section.
Official record
gc.nh.gov · the authoritative source
Sponsors
Rep. Paul DargieDPrime
- Rep. Peter PetrignoDRanking Member· Children and Family Law
Public testimony
8 signed in online · 3 wrote testimony
63% support38% oppose0% neutral
In their wordsVerbatim, exactly as submitted
“Hand-counting can increase transparency and public confidence, particularly in high-turnout areas, but must be practical and secure.”
“I sympathize with sponsors, but NO WAY will we leave ballots unattended over night and risk having same poll workers not show up OR having different poll workers show up instead. Chain of Attended Custody is too important for Trust in Election Integrity.”
Verbatim excerpts of submitted testimony, quoted from the testimony tool.
Read the testimony · as of Aug 12, 2026
Hearings
- 2026-01-2710:20 amHouse Election LawGP 158Public hearing
- 2026-02-0310:10 amHouse Election LawGP 158Public hearing
Legislative history
- Jan 7, 2026HouseIntroduced 01/07/2026 and referred to Election Law HJ 1 P. 20
- Jan 27, 2026HousePublic Hearing: 01/27/2026 02:20 pm GP 158
- Feb 3, 2026HouseExecutive Session: 02/03/2026 10:10 am GP 158
- Feb 3, 2026House: Inexpedient to Legislate 02/03/2026 (Vote 16-0; CC) HC 7 P. 10
- Feb 19, 2026HouseInexpedient to Legislate: MA VV 02/19/2026 HJ 5 P. 13
Coverage
No reporting linked yet.
Documents (PDF)
Bill text & amendments link direct to gc.nh.gov; committee reports stream from the state record.