2009 SESSION
03/09
HOUSE BILL 389
AN ACT relative to distributing campaign materials at polling places.
This bill requires the moderator to establish an electioneering zone at the polling place.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
09-0824
03/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine
AN ACT relative to distributing campaign materials at polling places.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Paragraph; Distributing Campaign Materials at Polling Place; Electioneering Zone. Amend RSA 659:43 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:
II-a.(a) The moderator shall establish an electioneering zone within sight of the entrance to the polling place and as close as is practical while maintaining the corridor required by paragraph II.
(b) Individuals electioneering shall be provided an equal opportunity to electioneer from within the electioneering zone.
(c) Notwithstanding the prohibition established by RSA 664:17, electioneering signs may be affixed to the ground within the electioneering zone, provided no damage is done to the property. Signs may be affixed no earlier than 12 hours prior to the opening of the polls. Any person affixing an electioneering sign to the ground or leaving a sign or electioneering materials of any kind unattended in the electioneering zone shall write or affix the responsible person’s name and address and a telephone number where that person may be contacted.
(d) Any electioneering signs affixed to the ground and any electioneering materials left unattended within the electioneering zone shall be removed by the person responsible within 4 hours following the closing of the polls.
(e) No person may use sound amplification equipment or illuminated electioneering signs in the electioneering zone.
(f) No sign larger than 2 feet by 4 feet shall be affixed, possessed, or displayed within the electioneering zone.
(g) The moderator, any designee of the moderator, or a law enforcement officer may remove any nonconforming electioneering sign or material from the electioneering zone, provided that all other nonconforming signs or materials are removed at the same time.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.