New data show that voting participation in the New Hampshire House and Senate remained relatively strong this year, but there were some outliers. In an institution where just a few votes can make or break major policy, showing up really does matter. Let’s dive into the numbers.

House attendance holds steady after last year’s record

The New Hampshire House of Representatives saw an average attendance rate of 91% across all roll call votes in 2025. That’s a slight dip from the 93% record high set in 2024, but still stronger than the long-term average. Since 1999, when the state first started publishing detailed roll call data online, House attendance has typically hovered in the mid-80% range.

Last year’s unusually high turnout may have been driven by the razor-thin partisan divide, prompting leaders to apply pressure and lawmakers to take fewer risks by skipping fewer votes. This year’s numbers indicate that pressure remained high for legislators to show up on voting days, even though Republicans had a more comfortable majority.

In the House, 66 representatives cast votes 100% of the time. On the other end of the spectrum, 22 representatives participated in fewer than two-thirds of roll call votes.

Attendance is tracked as part of each roll call vote. A legislator may be marked as absent or “excused,” but either way, they miss the opportunity to influence the outcome. That can make a big difference in a state with such close margins.

Senate attendance near-perfect, as usual

The state Senate—a much smaller, more visible body—posted an average attendance rate of 98% in 2025. That’s in line with historical norms. With only 24 senators in the New Hampshire Senate, there is more pressure on each one to show up to the State House. 

This year, 17 senators achieved perfect attendance for votes. Unlike in the House, no senator participated in fewer than two-thirds of votes.

Interestingly, attendance rates did not significantly differ between Democrats and Republicans in either chamber. Again, it is likely that each party was pushing hard for their members to show up and vote.

Belknap County brings up the rear

When comparing voting participation among House members by county, Belknap County stood out. The average attendance rate among Belknap’s delegation was just 78%, well below every other county. For context, here are the average vote participation rates for representatives in each county:

• Sullivan – 97%

• Cheshire – 95%

• Grafton – 93%

• Merrimack – 92%

• Hillsborough – 92%

• Carroll – 90%

• Rockingham – 90%

• Coös – 90%

• Strafford – 89%

• Belknap – 78%

This isn’t just due to one or two outliers. Three Belknap representatives participated in fewer than half of all votes, and several others had fairly low records. That’s especially notable given that Belknap is just a short drive from Concord.

(Citizens Count)

Does attendance really matter?

The short answer: yes! In a session packed with razor-thin margins, even a single absence could tip the scales:

• SB 14, a bill that would set mandatory minimum sentences for supplying fentanyl while decreasing penalties for psilocybin, failed in the House by 3 votes, then passed by 3 votes later the same day—only to get tabled in the Senate.

• HB 94, to ban Medicaid coverage of circumcision, passed the House by just one vote before being killed in the Senate.

• HB 53, which would have allowed home growing of medical marijuana, resulted in a 12-12 tie in the Senate—meaning it failed to pass.

• The state’s sprawling budget policy bill, HB 2, only passed the House after the Speaker broke a tie.

If your legislator was absent for any of those votes, that absence could have made a difference.

To explore your legislators’ attendance—and see how often they voted with their party—go to citizenscount.org/elected-officials and search by your town.

Citizens Count is a nonprofit serving the New Hampshire community by providing objective information about issues, elected officials, bills, elections, and candidates. These articles are being shared with partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.