OROL: Voter's GuideOROL: Voter's GuideTo vote in the Oyster River School District, you must be qualified to vote, you must register to vote, and you must cast your vote. Registered voters may also submit warrant articles, amend them at the annual district meeting and run for elected office.
You must be 18 years old to vote. If you are just turning 18, your birthday must be on or before election day (or when you register in some towns).
You must be a resident of Durham, Lee, or Madbury. This means you must physically live in one of these towns and have a place to reside. Students have some discretion whether they consider themselves residents of the town where they attend school, or the town where they live when not in school. However, their choice of residency must be consistent for voting, taxes, tuition, and other purposes.
You must be a citizen of the United States of America. To be a citizen you must have been born in the U.S. or to parents who are U.S. citizens, or you must be a naturalized citizen. Convicted felons are no longer eligible to vote.
You register to vote in ORSD by registering to vote in Durham, Lee or Madbury. You may register at your town office during normal business hours, or at other special times, usually announced in local newspapers. You may also register to vote at the polls on election day. Registered voters are listed on a checklist used by election clerks. Since this list is printed before election day, you will not be listed if you wait until election day to register, but this does not affect your ability to vote.
You must bring proof of age, residency, and citizenship. For age and citizenship, you may use a birth certificate, U.S. Passport, or naturalization papers. You may sign an affidavit of citizenship if you do not have documentation. [What is a valid proof of residency? Utility bill? Driver's license?]
ORSD holds annual district meetings in February. Since 1996, the annual district meeting is run according to Senate Bill 2 (SB2). The actual meeting is limited to amending the warrant articles. It is followed by a second session which is simply a ballot vote for the officers and warrant articles. This year (1998) the ballot vote will be held in separate polls in each town.
A public budget hearing is required as well as a public hearing prior to any bond vote. This year these hearings will be held on January 15, 1998.
When you arrive at session I of the district meeting, you should register with the ballot clerks to get your voter identification card. You hold up your voter identification card to cast your vote during the meeting.
The check-in ballot clerks are at the rear of the gym with a portion of the checklist alphabetized by last name. The voting booths are on the wall behind them. The ballot boxes are at the front, centered under the stage. (Because of the size of our district, other rooms at the high school may also be used for meeting and voting.) No absentee voting is available for this session.
For a ballot vote, you register with the check-in ballot clerk to get your ballot. You take your ballot to a voting booth where you mark it according to the instructions. (Different ballots require different kinds of marks. Some are simple check boxes; others may be electronically counted using connected bars.) Then take your ballot to the check-out clerks near the exit who will note that you have voted, and then take your ballot to the moderator or assistant moderator to be deposited.
Official ballot voting accepts absentee ballots. To use an absentee ballot you must ask for one in person or by mail at the district office. This must be done at least ???? before the date of the vote. The absentee ballot must be returned to the district office by 5:00 pm on election day.
The agenda for the annual district meeting is called the school warrant. It has several warrant articles. The school warrant is made by the school board, but may include articles submitted by registered voters of ORSD. The school warrant is amended at session I of the annual district meeting and then the articles are placed separately on the official ballot for voting.
Most warrant articles require a simple majority (greater than 50% of votes cast) to pass. Some warrant articles require a super majority of more than 50%. Articles that authorize the district to issue a bond require a 2/3 majority. [What other kinds of warrant articles require more than a simple majority?]
A warrant article is submitted by a petition with at least 25 signatures of registered voters of the ORSD. It must be submitted to the school district office or a school board member by a deadline that is usually a few weeks before the annual district meeting. This deadline is January 13, 1998 for this year's meeting.
Under SB2, no additional warrant article may be presented at the district meeting.
Amendments must be presented in writing to the moderator at the meeting. For an amendment to be considered it must be seconded. It is then open for discussion until someone calls for a vote on the amendment. This call must be seconded and approved by a majority at the meeting. If this motion passes, the amendment itself is voted on and must be approved by a majority at the meeting to change the warrant article. When there are no more amendments presented, there is a vote to close discussion on that article.
The moderator determines whether a vote passes. If the show of hands is lopsided, he may decide immediately. If it is close, he may call for a count of hands. If anyone wants, they may also call for a count of hands. [Does this require a second?] You will then be asked to vote again, holding your card up long enough for a ballot clerk to count your vote. Once all votes have been counted, the moderator will announce the count and results of the question.
A vote can also be made by secret ballot. To call a secret ballot vote, you must submit a written motion, signed by 5 registered voters. Once a ballot vote is called, the moderator will announce the time alloted to the vote (usually from 45 mintues to 2 hours). You must then get a ballot from the ballot clerks, mark that ballot in a voting booth, and place your ballot in the ballot box. Since these are impromptu ballots, they typically just have yes and no check boxes, so you need to listen beforehand to hear exactly what the question is.
To run for an elected office in ORSD you must be a registered voter in ORSD. The Durham representative on the School Board must reside in Durham, the Lee representative must reside in Lee, and the Madbury representative must reside in Madbury. The other at-large School Board members and the moderator may reside in any of the 3 towns.
To run for office you must submit your name to the School District Clerk. You must submit it during a special time period that is usually announced in local newspapers. This year's filing dates are January 21 through January 30, 1998. Once you submit your name you cannot officially withdraw from the election.
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Last update on 29-Mar-99 at 10:25 PM.
http://www.orol.org/district/elections/guide.html
This page is edited by David K. Taylor. Please send questions or comments to editor@orol.org.