The classic New England town meeting, a form of government unique to our region, was considered by Norman Rockwell to be one of the purest expressions of free speech, immortalized in his famous series "The Four Freedoms."

But since the 1990s, some New Hampshire towns have abandoned their annual town meeting for election-day balloting at the polls on the second Tuesday in March. No one can deny that the Official Ballot Law of 1995, known as SB2, has led to larger voter turnout during town meeting season, but there's also no denying that something's been lost in the process.