relative to the official ballot referendum form of town meetings.

The adoption process for the official ballot referendum form of meeting was simplified: the introduced version required voting by official ballot with full procedures (absentee voting, polling places, polling hours per RSA 669-671), while the amended version only requires a ballot at the town meeting with polls open for at least one hour after discussion.

The amended version adds a requirement that the question proposing adoption of the official ballot referendum form must be placed first on the annual meeting warrant.

A new section amending RSA 33:8-a, II was added requiring that all bond or note articles exceeding $100,000 appear in consecutive numerical order on the warrant and be acted upon before other business (except election of officers, charter actions, adoption of official ballot referendum form, zoning matters, or as determined by voters). Each such article must have polls open for at least one hour and a separate ballot box.

The entire provision (Section 2, amending RSA 40:14, VII) allowing towns to rescind their adoption of the official ballot referendum form was removed from the bill.

The effective date changed from '60 days after its passage' to a fixed date of July 1, 2026.