Rep. Nancy Murphy

Provided in-person at public hearing: As amended by the replace-all amendment introduced this morning, HB1234 seeks to identify incompatible offices for purposes of school district elections and prohibit certain combinations of offices from being sought and then unable to be held, simultaneously. The NH Secretary of State is aware that this bill was being brought forward and confirmed via email on 2/17 AM that he is in support. HB1234 will put school district election incompatibility of offices statute [671:18] in line with that of municipal election statute [669:7 that prohibits certain combinations of municipal offices from being held simultaneously]. HB1234 will prevent candidates from seeking election to, and possibly winning an office in which they cannot serve. As currently written, NH statute disallows an elected candidate from serving in incompatible offices, but does not preclude a candidate from running for incompatible offices by filing a declaration of candidacy, and their name appearing on the ballot. Voters need to be confident that the person they elect will not thereafter be disqualified from serving- leaving the governing bodies of municipalities and school districts to appoint individuals to serve instead, until the next election. HB1234 protects the rights of voters, clarifies for candidates which school district positions are incompatible before they put their name on the ballot, and eliminates the need for governing bodies to appoint individuals to serve in offices when an elected member is determined ineligible.