Officials: Big Town Meeting Change Paying Off

After seeing a split town and school meeting fail to increase overall voter turnout over the past few years, North Hampton officials hoped this year that restoring both voting sessions to the same March day would be the solution to stagnant participation.

The move appears to be working, as North Hampton officials said roughly 750 voters had cast ballots as of 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. They also said the town could be pacing toward over 1,000 voters — which Selectman Phil Wilson said is "well more than last year."

"It's been pretty good," said Wilson, noting that the day has been "quiet" compared to national elections, but strong for a town with only 3,604 registered voters. "We've already achieved one of our objectives from last year, and that was to bring in more people."

It's tough to say whether having a united town meeting was the sole driver behind the increased turnout or whether the North Hampton School renovation project — arguably the biggest article on the warrant — is the reason why residents are casting ballots, said Town Administrator Steve Apple.

Regardless, Apple said all articles on each side of the town and school ballots will benefit from a singular town meeting voting day just due to the fact that more people will be reviewing them.

"Any time you can do two things at once and do it well, it's a good thing," said Apple, who said the town should investigate whether having voting on a Saturday as part of an activity- and childcare-filled "community day" could increase turnout even more.

While North Hampton was seeing strong turnout numbers for an election day, Hampton wasn't quite as lucky due to a warrant and slate of candidates with little contention or controversy.

Town Moderator Bob Casassa said controversy is always the "quick easy answer" for boosting poll visitation. He said, though, that it could be a positive sign that only about 1,200 of the 11,979 registered voters in Hampton — plus 260 absentee voters — had cast ballots as of 3 p.m., and if overall totals fall short of the roughly 3,500 ballots cast in 2011.

"One way to read that is that the town is generally satisfied and may not view it as a stark choice" on big issues and candidates, said Casassa, pointing to the Lafayette Road-Winnacunnet Road intersection as the "biggest" article on the ballot. "Maybe in a community you have to take a pause once in a while from the controversy... The calmness and stability is refreshing."

Still, fewer overall voters means the potential for special interest groups to have more leverage in controlling the outcome at the polls, especially since there aren't as many different special interest groups due to the fact that there aren't as many controversial items creating them.

"I've seen a lot of 'Yellow Sheets' in there," said Hampton School Board member Rusty Bridle, who isn't up for reelection this year. "That says all they're using is what one person says. I don't care how you vote, just as long as you're educated [on both sides of a particular issue]."

The polls at North Hampton School close at 7 p.m., while Hampton's polls at Winnacunnet High School close at 8 p.m. More information about town meeting day and other coverage can be found here.