New Hampshire Ballot Question to Eliminate Defunct Position Fails, According to Preliminary Results

$100 Salaries, No Work: How a Failed Ballot Question Keeps a Defunct Job Alive

New Hampshire voters came just short Tuesday of eliminating a county-level judicial position that has done no real work since 2011, a New Hampshire Bulletin report shows. With 96% of the votes counted, 64.7% of voters backed abolishing the register of probate, a technicality that left the role intact because it failed to clear the two-thirds constitutional supermajority required.

The result means the state will continue to elect 10 registers of probate every two years for an annual salary of $100 to perform no duties. It’s a peculiar quirk of New Hampshire’s constitution—a document that mandates the position’s existence even after the state stripped it of all administrative responsibilities during a sweeping 2011 court overhaul.

The Anatomy of a Defunct Office

The register of probate was once a key administrative post for the courts, responsible for handling estate paperwork and probate filings. But in 2011, the New Hampshire legislature overhauled the entire judicial system, shifting those duties to other court staff. The job, however, wasn’t deleted from the state’s constitution. Instead, it became a constitutional artifact, a position that appears on ballots every two years but exists in name only.

Ballot Question 1, which sought to amend Articles 71 and 81 of the state constitution, aimed to fix this anomaly. The question’s technical language—amended to remove the register of probate from one article and clarify judicial ethics in another—may have confused some voters, though the measure’s backers argued it was a straightforward housekeeping measure.

The constitutional requirement for a two-thirds majority is a high bar. In 2022, a nearly identical question garnered just 63% support, falling even further short. Tuesday’s vote, with a 64.7% approval rate, marked a slight improvement but still not enough to trigger the change.

Respecting the Taxpayer's Dollar

On the surface, the cost seems trivial: 10 people collecting $100 a year. But the principle is far larger.

This is about respecting the taxpayer’s dollar and cleaning up government. Even $100 is too much for a job that doesn’t exist.

Opponents of the measure, however, raised concerns about the constitutional amendment’s process.

Hand dropping question mark ballot transparent box close up shot depicts carefully placing clear

The Path Forward

Lawmakers cannot simply abolish the position on their own; the constitution requires a voter-approved amendment.

For now, though, the status quo remains. New Hampshire will continue its biennial ritual of electing register of probates who will, in all likelihood, continue to collect their $100 salary while doing absolutely nothing.