HB 683 – AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
05/14/08 1871s
2007 SESSION
03/10
HOUSE BILL 683
AN ACT relative to nominations by party committees and enabling certain persons to vote in primaries prior to turning 18 years of age.
SPONSORS: Rep. D. Cote, Hills 23; Rep. C. Chase, Hills 2; Rep. Gorman, Hills 23
This bill repeals the law authorizing party committees to fill vacancies on a party ticket after the holding of the state primary election. This bill also enables 17-year-olds to vote in primaries if they will be 18 years of age on the date of the general election.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
05/14/08 1871s
07-0210
03/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven
AN ACT relative to nominations by party committees and enabling certain persons to vote in primaries prior to turning 18 years of age.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Nominations for Incompatible Offices. Amend RSA 659:91 to read as follows:
659:91 Nominations For Incompatible Offices. Any person who is nominated by the same political party for incompatible offices shall notify the secretary of state no later than the Monday following the date of the primary of which nomination he or she will accept. Thereupon the secretary of state shall declare a vacancy to exist in the nomination which such person declined. [The vacancy shall be filled as provided in RSA 655:37 except that all the necessary declarations of candidacy and affidavits shall be filed no later than the second Friday following the date of the primary.] The appropriate party committee shall notify the secretary of state in writing of a person they designate to fill the vacancy. The person so designated shall, no later than the second Friday following the primary election, file with the secretary of state a declaration of candidacy as provided in RSA 655:17 with the understanding that, where the form says primary election, it shall be construed to mean general election. If the candidate is designated for the office of governor, executive councilor, state senator, or state representative, the candidate shall also file, no later than the second Friday following the primary, the appropriate affidavit as provided in RSA 655:29. Any candidate who has not filed all the forms required by this section within the required period of time shall not have his or her name printed on the state general election ballot for that office.
2 Reference Deleted. Amend RSA 659:91-a, II to read as follows:
II. [Notwithstanding the provisions of RSA 655:37,] If any candidate is disqualified from accepting the nomination of another party by means of write-in votes because the candidate is disqualified under the provisions of paragraph I, then the nomination shall be given to the candidate who received the highest number of write-in votes and who was not disqualified under the provisions of paragraph I, so long as he or she receives 10 write-in votes, or write-in votes equaling 10 percent or more of the total votes cast for that party on the state primary election ballot, whichever is the smaller.
3 County Officers; Reference Deleted. Amend RSA 661:9, II(c) to read as follows:
(c) The provisions of RSA 655:32 [and RSA 655:37] relating to nominations by appropriate party committees for vacancies in an office on a primary [or general] election ballot[, respectively,] shall apply to vacancies to be filled under this paragraph.
4 Ballot Law Commission Duties; Reference Changed. Amend RSA 665:6, II to read as follows:
II. When nomination papers as provided in RSA [655:40-43] 655:40 through 655:43 or the filling of vacancies in nominations occurring after the primary as provided in RSA [655:37-39] 655:38 and 655:39 are in apparent conformity with law, they shall be valid unless written objection to their conformity with the law shall be filed with the secretary of state within the time limit provided in RSA 655:44 in the case of nominations by nomination papers or within 3 days of the date on which the appointment to fill a vacancy is filed with the secretary of state in the case of filling vacancies in nominations. If written objections are filed, the secretary of state shall forthwith notify the ballot law commission of the filing. The ballot law commission shall then meet as provided in RSA 665:5 in order to hear and decide all the objections. The decision of the ballot law commission in such case shall be final as to questions both of law and fact, and no court shall have jurisdiction to review such decision.
5 Repeal. RSA 655:37, relative to vacancy for office on party ticket, is repealed.
6 New Paragraph; Eligibility; Voter; 17 Years of Age. Amend RSA 654:1 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:
III. A person who is 17 years of age, who otherwise meets the eligibility requirements of paragraph I, may vote at a state primary election preceding the state general election at which the person will be 18 years of age.
7 Voter Registration Form. Amend RSA 654:7 to read as follows:
654:7 Voter Registration Form. A standard registration application form shall be used throughout the state. The registration form shall be no larger than 8½ inches by 11 inches. The secretary of state shall prescribe the form of the voter registration form, which shall be in substantially the following form:
Date ______________
VOTER REGISTRATION FORM
(Please print or type)
1. Name __________________________________________________________________
Last (suffix) First Full Middle Name
2. Address _______________________________________________________________
Street Ward Number
____________________________________________________________________
Town or City Zip Code
3. Mailing Address if ______________________________________________________
different than in 2 Street Ward Number
_________________________________________________________
Town or City Zip Code
4. Place and Date of Birth _________________________________________________
Town or City State
Date _______________________
5. If a naturalized citizen, give name of court where and date when naturalized ______________________________________________________________________________
6. Place last registered to vote _____________________________________________
Town or City
_____________________________________________________________________________
Street Ward Number
7. Name under which previously registered, if different from above ______________________________________________________________________________
8. Party Affiliation (if any) ________________________________________________
9. Driver’s License Number _________________________________State _____
If you do not have a valid driver’s license, provide the last four digits of your social security number ___ ___ ___ ___
My name is ___________________. I am today registering to vote in the city/town of ____________________, New Hampshire.
I understand that to vote in this city/town, I must be at least 18 years of age, or 17 years of age to vote in a state primary election preceding the general election at which I will be 18 years of age, and that I must be a United States citizen, and I must be domiciled in this city/town.
I understand that I can claim only one city/town as my domicile at a time. A domicile is that place, more than any other, where I sleep most nights of the year, or to which I intend to return after a temporary absence. By registering or voting today, I acknowledge that I am not registering to vote or voting in any other city/town.
I acknowledge that I have read and understand the above qualifications for voting and do hereby swear, under the penalties for voting fraud set forth below, that I am qualified to vote in the above-stated city/town, and, if registering on election day, that I have not voted and will not vote at any other polling place this election.
___________________________ _________________________________________
Date Signature
In accordance with RSA 659:34, the penalty for knowingly or purposefully providing false information when registering to vote or voting is a class A misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of imprisonment not to exceed one year and a fine not to exceed $2,000. Fraudulently registering to vote or voting is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000.
8 New Section; Registration by 17-Year-Old Voting at State Primary Election. Amend RSA 654 by inserting after section 7-b the following new section:
654:7-c Registration by 17-Year-Old Voting at State Primary Election.
I. A person who is 17 years of age, who otherwise meets the eligibility requirements of RSA 654:1, I, may apply to register to vote at a state primary election preceding the general election at which the person will be 18 years of age, provided that the party with which such person seeks affiliation has filed a statement with the secretary of state that it permits voting by a person meeting the qualifications imposed by this section. Such person may only apply to register at the polling place on the date of such state primary election. The form on which the person applies to register to vote shall be of a different color paper than that used for the forms processed under RSA 654:7-a so as to be easily segregable from such other forms.
II. If the supervisors of the checklist determine that the person registering under this section is qualified to vote in the state primary election, then they shall add such person’s name to the checklist together with a mark or sign clearly indicating that the application has been entered on the checklist for the purpose of voting only in the state elections referenced in this section. The supervisors shall remove the mark or sign associated with the person’s name in the checklist at their meeting next following the person’s eighteenth birthday so as to remove any reference to the limitations imposed by this section.
III. A person voting in a state primary election under this section shall not be permitted to vote for any candidate who is not a candidate for federal, state, or county office or for delegate to a state party convention or on any question or issue.
9 Determining Qualifications of Applicant; Age. Amend RSA 654:12, I(b) to read as follows:
(b) AGE. Any reasonable documentation indicating the applicant is 18 years of age or older, or that the applicant is 17 years of age and will be 18 years of age on the date of the state general election if the person is registering under RSA 654:7-c.
10 Preparation of State Primary Election Ballots; Form. Amend RSA 656:23 to read as follows:
656:23 General Form. The state primary election ballot shall be as nearly as practicable in the same form as the state general election ballot. The official state primary election ballot shall not include the name of any candidate who is not a candidate for federal, state, or county office or for delegate to a state party convention or any question or issue.
11 Effective Date.
I. Sections 6-10 of this act shall take effect January 1, 2009.
II. The remainder of this act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.