New Hampshire voting districts come in five overlapping layers: two congressional districts, five Executive Council districts, 24 state Senate districts, 204 state House districts that together elect 400 representatives, and three county commissioner districts inside each of the state’s ten counties. Every voter sits inside one of each. The boundaries are different for every layer because each one is drawn to a different population target and a different set of rules, and all of them get redrawn after each federal census.
Congressional Districts
New Hampshire has two U.S. House seats, so the state is split into two congressional districts of roughly equal population — about 690,000 residents each based on the 2020 census. The 1st Congressional District generally covers the eastern half of the state, including the Seacoast, the Lakes Region, and parts of central New Hampshire. The 2nd Congressional District covers the western and northern portions, including the White Mountains, the Connecticut River Valley, and Concord.
The current map was not drawn by the legislature. After the 2020 census, lawmakers passed two congressional plans and the governor vetoed both. The New Hampshire Supreme Court then adopted a “least change” map that made minimal adjustments to the prior boundaries, and that court-drawn map is what governs current elections.1All About Redistricting. New Hampshire
Every state is guaranteed at least one House seat. Beyond that, seats are divided among the states using the “method of equal proportions,” which the Census Bureau applies after each decennial count.2U.S. Census Bureau. 2020 Census Apportionment Results New Hampshire has held at two seats for decades.
Executive Council Districts
The Executive Council is a five-member elected body that shares executive power with the governor, and each councilor represents roughly one-fifth of the state, or about 263,000 residents.3New Hampshire Executive Council. About Us The council must approve all state contracts worth $10,000 or more, confirm judicial appointments and agency commissioners, and vote on pardon requests. No governor-appointed judge or department head takes office without council consent.
The five districts are listed town by town in RSA 662:2.4New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 662:2 – Councilor Districts District 1 stretches across the northern tier and the Lakes Region down to Rochester and Dover. District 2 runs along the western side of the state from Littleton south through the Connecticut River Valley and includes Concord and Keene. District 3 covers the Seacoast from Portsmouth down through Salem. District 4 centers on Manchester and nearby towns. District 5 picks up Nashua and much of southern Hillsborough County. Councilors are elected every two years.
The council’s constitutional authority traces to Part II, Article 60 of the state constitution, which has required five elected councilors since the founding era.5New Hampshire Secretary of State. New Hampshire Constitution Few other states have anything like it.
State Senate Districts
The New Hampshire Senate has 24 members, each elected from a single-member district. RSA 662:3 lists the towns and wards assigned to each one.6New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 662:3 – State Senate Districts Because the Senate is small, each district contains a sizable population — roughly 57,000 to 58,000 people — and typically bundles many towns together into one legislative unit. Only minor population variations between districts are permitted.
After the 2020 census, the legislature passed new Senate lines in SB 240, and the governor signed the bill in May 2022. The map was challenged in state court and survived.1All About Redistricting. New Hampshire
State House Districts
New Hampshire’s House of Representatives is the largest state legislative body in the country. Four hundred representatives serve 204 districts, which means a single representative may serve fewer than 3,500 constituents. The state constitution sets the total between 375 and 400 seats and requires reapportionment after every decennial census.5New Hampshire Secretary of State. New Hampshire Constitution
Many House districts elect more than one representative. A town large enough for several seats forms its own multi-member district; smaller neighboring towns get combined into a shared district. The constitution requires that town, ward, and unincorporated-place boundaries stay intact and contiguous, so no municipality is carved up.5New Hampshire Secretary of State. New Hampshire Constitution
What Multi-Member Districts Mean on Your Ballot
In a single-member district, you vote for one candidate and get one representative. In a multi-member district electing four seats, you can vote for up to four candidates, and all four winners represent you. The system keeps clusters of small towns together instead of splitting them, but it does make ballots longer, especially in contested races where a dozen or more candidates may be running for several open seats.
Floterial Districts
The population math rarely divides evenly. A town may have enough people for two representatives with a fraction left over. That leftover gets assigned to a floterial district — an overlay that sits on top of the regular districts and groups fragments from multiple towns into an additional seat. If you live inside a floterial, you vote in both your regular House race and the floterial race, so you end up with one more representative than voters outside the floterial.
Article 11 of Part II of the state constitution authorizes this arrangement so that small towns without enough population for even one representative still get a voice.5New Hampshire Secretary of State. New Hampshire Constitution The result is a complicated map, but one that stays tied to municipal lines.
County Commissioner Districts
Each of New Hampshire’s ten counties is run by a three-member board of commissioners, and each county is split into three geographic districts to elect them. RSA 662:4 lists every town and city ward in every commissioner district statewide.7New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 662:4 – County Commissioner Districts You vote only for the commissioner in your own district, not all three.
Commissioners manage county budgets, oversee correctional facilities and county nursing homes, and handle regional infrastructure. Splitting the county into three districts prevents a single population center from controlling the full board. In Hillsborough County, for example, District 1 covers Manchester and Bedford, District 2 covers Nashua, Hudson, and nearby towns, and District 3 takes in the more rural communities to the west.7New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 662:4 – County Commissioner Districts
How and When the Lines Get Redrawn
Every set of district lines in New Hampshire, from congressional down to county commissioner, is drawn by the state legislature as an ordinary statute subject to the governor’s veto.1All About Redistricting. New Hampshire The state does not use an independent redistricting commission. The General Court takes redistricting up after each decennial federal census, and the new maps must comply with the state constitution and federal law, including the equal-population requirement that applies to all legislative districts.8Justia. Reynolds v. Sims
If you want to know exactly which districts you live in, the specific towns and wards for each Executive Council, Senate, and county commissioner district are listed in RSA 662. The current House, Senate, and congressional maps remain in effect until after the 2030 census.