CHAPTER 278
HB 265 – FINAL VERSION
05/27/09 1706s
2009 SESSION
03/01
HOUSE BILL 265
AN ACT relative to proving qualifications to vote.
This bill modifies and renames the voter citizenship affidavit.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
05/27/09 1706s
09-0793
03/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine
AN ACT relative to proving qualifications to vote.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
278:1 Determining Qualifications of Applicant. Amend RSA 654:12, I-III to read as follows:
I. When determining the qualifications of an applicant, the supervisors of the checklist, or the town or city clerk, shall require the applicant to present proof of citizenship, age, and domicile, as provided in the following categories:
(a) CITIZENSHIP. The supervisors of the checklist, or the town or city clerk, shall accept from the applicant any one of the following as proof of citizenship: the applicant's birth certificate, passport, naturalization papers if the applicant is a naturalized citizen, a [citizenship] qualified voter affidavit, or any other reasonable documentation which indicates the applicant is a United States citizen. The [citizenship] qualified voter affidavit shall be in the following form:
Date: ______________________
[CITIZENSHIP] QUALIFIED VOTER AFFIDAVIT (Identity, Citizenship, Age)
Name: ______________________________
Name at birth if different: ______________________________
Place of birth: ______________________________
Date of birth: __________
Date and Place of Naturalization: ____________________________
I hereby swear and affirm, under the penalties for voting fraud set forth below, that I am the identical person whom I represent myself to be, that I am a duly qualified voter of this town (or ward), that I am a United States citizen, that I am at least 18 years of age as of this date or will be at the next election, and that to the best of my knowledge and belief the information above is true and correct.
____________________________
(Signature of applicant)
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.
On the date shown above, before me, ____________________ (print name of notary public, justice of the peace, election officer), appeared ____________________ (print name of person whose signature is being notarized), (known to me or satisfactorily proven (circle one)) to be the person whose name appears above, and he or she subscribed his or her name to the foregoing affidavit and swore that the facts contained in this affidavit are true to the best of his or her knowledge and belief.
________________________________
Notary Public/Justice of the Peace/
Official Authorized by RSA 659:30
(b) AGE. Any reasonable documentation indicating the applicant is 18 years of age or older[.], or, if the applicant does not have reasonable documentation in his or her possession at the place and time of voter registration, a qualified voter affidavit.
(c) DOMICILE. Any reasonable documentation which indicates that the applicant has a domicile and intends to maintain a domicile, as defined in this chapter, in the town, city, or ward in which he or she desires to vote, or, if the applicant does not have reasonable documentation in his or her possession at the place and time of voter registration, an affidavit in the following form:
DOMICILE AFFIDAVIT
Date: ________________
Name: _________________________
Current Domicile Address: ____________________
Street Ward Number
____________________
Town or City Zip Code
Date when current domicile was established: Month: _______ Year: _______
Place and date of birth: ____________________
Address of last previous domicile: ______________________________
Street Ward Number
______________________________
Town or City Zip Code
I hereby swear and affirm, under the penalties for voting fraud set forth below, that my established domicile is at the current domicile address I have entered above. 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, and that to the best of my knowledge and belief the information above is true and correct.
________________________________
(Signature of applicant)
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.
On the date shown above, before me, ______________________ (print name of notary public, justice of the peace, election officer), appeared ______________________ (print name of person whose signature is being notarized), (known to me or satisfactorily proven (circle one)) to be the person whose name appears above, and he or she subscribed his or her name to the foregoing affidavit and swore that the facts contained in this affidavit are true to the best of his or her knowledge and belief.
____________________________________
Notary Public/Justice of the Peace/ Official Authorized by RSA 659:30
II. The supervisors may refuse to add the name of an applicant to the checklist if he or she fails to present the evidence or an affidavit as required by this section. Without limiting the acceptance of other forms of proof of domicile or identity deemed reasonable by the supervisors:
(a) Any one of the following documents is presumptive evidence that the individual seeking to vote meets the domicile requirement, provided the document is currently valid, was issued to or in the name of the applicant, and shows the address the applicant claims as a domicile:
(1) New Hampshire driver's license.
(2) New Hampshire vehicle registration.
(3) Armed services identification, or other photo identification issued by the United States government.
(b) Any one of the following is presumptive evidence of the identity of an applicant sufficient to satisfy the identity requirement for an official authorized by RSA 659:30 to take the oath of an applicant swearing to a [citizenship] qualified voter, domicile, or election day affidavit:
(1) Photo driver's license issued by any state or the federal government.
(2) United States passport, armed services identification, or other photo identification issued by the United States government.
(3) Photo identification issued by local or state government.
(c) The presumptions established in this paragraph may be defeated by evidence establishing that it is more likely than not that the applicant is not qualified as a voter.
III. To prove the qualifications set forth in paragraphs I and II, an applicant for registration as a voter must prove his or her identity to establish that the evidence used to prove age, citizenship, and domicile relate to the applicant. A person who has in his or her immediate possession a photo identification approved for use by paragraph II must present that identification when applying for registration. A person who does not have an approved photo identification with him or her may establish identity through any reasonable means, including, but not limited to: photo identification not approved by paragraph II, but determined to be legitimate by the supervisors of the checklist or clerk, verification of the person's identity by another person registered as a voter and known to the supervisor or clerk, or completion of the qualified voter affidavit [to be completed by a challenged voter]. Residents of a nursing home or similar facility may prove their identity through verification of identity by the administrator of the facility or by his or her designee. For the purposes of this section, the application of a person whose identity has been verified by an official of a nursing home or similar facility shall be treated in the same manner as the application of a person who proved his or her identity with a photo identification.
278:2 Reference Changed. Amend RSA 654:31-a to read as follows:
654:31-a Right to Know Exemption. The information contained on the checklist of a town or city, specifically, the name, street address, mailing address, town or city, and party affiliation, if any, of registered voters, except as otherwise provided by statute, is public information subject to RSA 91-A. All other information on the voter registration form, absentee registration affidavit, [citizenship] qualified voter and domicile affidavits, and application for absentee ballot shall be treated as confidential information and the records containing this information shall be exempt from the public disclosure provisions of RSA 91-A, except as provided by statutes other than RSA 91-A. Notwithstanding the foregoing, [citizenship] qualified voter and domicile affidavits are public records subject to RSA 91-A for the sole purpose of challenging an individual registering to vote or voting, challenging ballots to be recounted, to the extent that such ballot challenges are specifically authorized by law, or determining the accuracy of any [citizenship] qualified voter or domicile affidavit. Election officials and law enforcement personnel in furtherance of their official duties may access and may disclose information from the voter registration form, [citizenship] qualified voter and domicile affidavits, absentee registration affidavits, and applications for absentee ballots, if necessary to resolve a challenge to an individual registering to vote or voting, or if necessary to investigate or prosecute election law violations or any crime. Law enforcement access and use of such records for the investigation or prosecution of crimes unrelated to election law violations shall be limited to the records of the specific individuals who are the subject of the investigation or prosecution.
278:3 Challenge of Voter; Affidavit. Amend RSA 659:27 to read as follows:
659:27 Challenge of Voter; Affidavit. Any voter at any state election may challenge any other voter offering to vote at such election, and the moderator shall not receive the vote of the person so challenged until he or she shall sign and give to the moderator an affidavit in the following form: I, ___________________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am the identical person whom I represent myself to be, that I am a duly qualified voter of this town (or ward) and have a legal domicile therein. In the alternative, a challenged voter may fill out and sign a qualified voter affidavit.
278:4 Reference Changed. Amend RSA 659:30 to read as follows:
659:30 Affidavit. The affidavit of a challenged voter, a qualified voter [citizenship] affidavit, a voter domicile affidavit, or any other affidavit required by the election statutes may be sworn before any person authorized by law to administer oaths or before any election officer.
278:5 Reference Changed. Amend RSA 659:34, I(a) to read as follows:
(a) When registering to vote; when obtaining an official ballot; or when casting a vote by official ballot, makes a false material statement regarding his or her qualifications as a voter to an election officer or submits a voter registration form, an election day registration affidavit, a [citizenship] qualified voter affidavit, a domicile affidavit, or an absentee registration affidavit containing false material information regarding his or her qualifications as a voter;
278:6 Reference Changed. Amend RSA 659:101 to read as follows:
659:101 Preservation of Absentee Voting Materials, Election Day Affidavits, and Domicile Affidavits. The affidavit envelopes and application forms processed by the moderator as provided in RSA 659:50, and the [citizenship] qualified voter affidavits and domicile affidavits as provided in RSA 654:12 and any other documentary proof of qualifications retained by the town or city clerk, the supervisors of the checklist, or other election official may be preserved in the same manner that ballots are preserved. [Citizenship] Qualified voter, voter registration, and domicile affidavits shall be retained for 3 years after the election in which they are used, and other materials may be destroyed one year after the first state general election at which the individual may vote.
278:7 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2010.
Approved: July 29, 2009
Effective Date: January 1, 2010