Calling for Warrant Articles

Greasing the wheels of democracy

On several occasions, people have complained to me about some aspect or another of how Nottingham town government is run, and I’ve replied, “You could do something about that. Put a warrant article on the ballot.” Often, the person I’m speaking with then looks deflated. The idea of going door-to-door trying to convince neighbors to sign a warrant article petition is unattractive. 

Among potential warrant article issues people have mentioned to me include restoring the Community Newsletter, establishing particular roads as public roads, and increased tax exemptions for the disabled and elderly. My sense of things is that some of these ideas are broadly popular and would be approved by the voters. The problem is that the ideas lack advocates who are motivated strongly enough to do the door-knocking and idea pitching to get the required minimum of 25 signatures of voters registered in Nottingham for the warrant article to be placed on the ballot.

To make it easier for Nottingham citizens to enhance town government via warrant articles, I’ve decided to run an experiment. 

Do you have a warrant article idea that you’d like to see on the ballot? Put it in the comments to this article or send it to me, letting me know who you are. You can send a message to me via Substack by clicking on my name, right below the headline. That will take you to my author profile where there’s a button to click for sending a message. 

I’ll coordinate with you to address any duplicative or similar warrant-article suggestions, and perhaps advise on wording. I’ll then publicize the proposed warrant articles in the Nottingham Blog, giving the article’s text and who proposed it. 

Next, in coordination with the Nottingham Community Church, there will be an event where people who want to sign one or more of the proposed warrant article petitions can come by to do so. The date has yet to be determined. It will likely be a weekday evening in early to mid-December. It will be a by-donation event, as we should help fund the church so that its building can continue to be used for community events such as this one. 

At the event, I’ll have printouts of the warrant article petitions for those who wish to sign them. Warrant article sponsors or other advocates might want to hang out during the event to talk to prospective signers. 

I'll file any warrant article petitions that receive the needed number of signatures with the town or school, as applicable. 

Have a Warrant Article Idea?

The NH Municipal Association provides this guide about warrant articles, and this Q&A. The state also provides these suggestions for warrant articles and suggested wording. 

Please, no offensive, frivolous, or ridiculous suggestions. Remember, you are taking up the voters’ time.