HAVERHILL — Voters approved everything on the ballot at a floor meeting Saturday, including shortening the town clerk’s term, funding a study to increase the capacity of the Woodsville Fire District Wastewater Treatment Facility and giving tax breaks to seniors.
The town moved to a ballot vote on several articles including the capacity study and approving financial contributions for Woodsville’s paving and reconstruction, highway and fire departments. In all, voters approved $645,200 in special appropriations to Woodsville.
Voters approved a $5.58 million operating budget, up from the $5.23 million budget approved last year.
At the end of the meeting, Town Manager Thomas Galinat said attendees successfully motioned to send a letter to legislators in support of voter ID laws in New Hampshire.
A 2024 state law that required first-time voters to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote and requiring all voters to bring identification to the polls is currently being challenged in federal court.
Legislators are also working on additional bills that would remove student identification cards as an eligible form of voter ID and prohibit local election officials from personally identifying voters they know.
Turnout at Saturday’s meeting was low, with 160, or less than 6%, of the town’s 2,886 registered voters attending compared to 300 or 400 in a typical year.
