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Rollcall FAQ
This page answers questions about the Rollcall View Tool.
Questions to webmaster at nhelection.info.
The State of New Hampshire provides a quality web site that details the activities of the General Court, New Hampshire's state legislature. While the state provides information on members, hearings, bills, and actions of the legislature, it does not make it easy to see the votes of your particular representatives. With a 400 member lower chamber, this is a serious problem.
The House is divided by districts, which are identified by county and district number. Districts can span multiple towns, and can have multiple members, currently ranging from 1 to 10 or more representatives in a single district. In urban areas, districts can comprise less than a city, usually covering one or more city wards. Citizens rarely remember which county and district number represents their district. This is why the Rollcall Tool lets you select your town (or city and ward if required) to determine your district and representatives.
In addition to the district challenges, citizens can be confused by the meaning of particular votes. In the New Hampshire House of Representatives, most votes are on committee recommendations. If the committee supports a bill, the committee recommendation is OTP or that the full house "ought to pass" the bill. If the committee opposes the bill, the committee recommendation is ITL or that it is "inexpedient to legislate" and the bill should be killed.
With this in mind, a vote against a committee recommendation to ITL ("Inexpedient to Legislate" or "Kill") a good bill is a correct vote. But how will the average citizen understand that "Nay" is the correct vote, especially when the bill was good? Scoring of votes is the answer. The Rollcall Tool reports '+' for good votes, and '--' for bad votes because the system knows which roll call votes are scored, and what the "correct" vote is.
The Rollcall Tool provides a web based viewer allowing you to choose scored votes from the form. Alternately, you can choose any rollcall vote since 2001 for viewing. Once viewed, you can sort the columns of the table by clicking on the header of the column. Holding the shift key while clicking on headers will sort successive columns. Experiment to get the effect you want!
When viewing vote information, the following table of abbreviations will be helpful:
| Abbreviation | Explanation |
|---|---|
| AA | Amendment Adopted |
| AF | Amendment Failed |
| AL | Amendment Lost |
| AM | Amendment |
| APPROP | Appropriations |
| APPTS | Appoints; Appointments |
| CAP BUDGET | Capital Budget |
| CC | Consent Calendar |
| COMM AM | Committee Amendment |
| CONC | Concur; Concurred |
| CONF COMM | Conference Committee |
| CRIM&SFTY | Criminal Justice and Public Safety |
| DIV | Division Vote |
| E&A | Environment and Agriculture |
| ECON DEVEL | Economic Development |
| ED&A | Executive Departments and Administration |
| ELEC LAW | Election Law |
| FL AM | Floor Amendment |
| HC | House Calendar |
| HHS&EA | Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs |
| HJ | House Journal |
| INT AFFAIR | Internal Affairs |
| INTERSTATE | Interstate Cooperation |
| IS | Interim Study |
| ITL | Inexpedient to Legislate |
| JUD | Judiciary and Family Law |
| LABOR | Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services |
| LEG ADMIN | Legislative Administration |
| LOB | Legislative Office Building |
| LOC & REGREV | Local and Regulated Revenue |
| LOT | Lay on the Table |
| M&C | Municipal and County Government |
| MA | Motion Adopted |
| MAJ | Majority |
| MAJ REPORT | Majority (of Committee) Report |
| MAR | March |
| MF | Motion Failed |
| MIN | Minority |
| MIN REPORT | Minority (of Committee) Report |
| ML | Motion Lost |
| NO ASSGMNT | No Committee Assignment |
| NONCONC | Nonconcur; Nonconcurred |
| NONCONC REQ CONF COMM | Nonconcurred Request Conference Committee |
| NT | New Title |
| OTP | Ought to Pass |
| OTP/AM | Ought to Pass with Amendment |
| OTPA | Ought to Pass with Amendment |
| PRES | President (of Senate) |
| PROP COMM AM | Proposed Committee Amendment |
| PUB AFFAIR | Public Affairs |
| PUB INST | Public Institutions, Health & Human Services |
| PUBLIC WKS | Public Works and Highways |
| RC | Regular Calendar |
| RC # - # | Roll Call |
| RE-REF | Re-Referred |
| REF | Refer; Referred |
| REF FOR STUDY | Refer to Interim Study |
| REG REV | Regulated Revenues |
| REP | Representative |
| REP'S HALL | Representative's Hall |
| REQ | Request |
| RM | Room |
| RM100,SH | Room 100, State House |
| RM210,LOB | Room 210, Legislative Office Building |
| RNF | Recommended, but Not Funded |
| RR&D | Resources, Recreation and Development |
| RULES/E.B. | Rules and Enrolled Bills |
| SC | Senate Calendar |
| SEN | Senate; Senator |
| SH | State House |
| SJ | Senate Journal |
| SPEC COMM | Special Committee Assignment |
| SPEC ORD | Special Order |
| SPKR | Speaker |
| ST&E | Science. Technology and Energy |
| ST-FD&VETS | State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs |
| SUBST | Substitute |
| TRANSPORT | Transportation |
| VV | Voice Vote |
| W & R | Wildlife and Recreation |
| WAYS&MEANS | Ways and Means |
| WILDLIFE | Wildlife and Marine Resources |
Last updated January 30, 2010