Revision: June 14, 2016, midnight
\t \t\tHB 1377 - VERSION ADOPTED BY BOTH BODIES
9Mar2016... 0247h
04/28/2016 1513s
1June2016... 2043CofC
1June2016... 2161EBA
2016 SESSION
\t16-2634
\t06/04
HOUSE BILL\t1377
AN ACT\trelative to receipt of absentee ballots.
SPONSORS:\tRep. Fields, Belk. 4; Rep. Gallagher, Belk. 4
COMMITTEE:\tElection Law
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AMENDED ANALYSIS
\tThis bill:
\tI. Requires absentee ballots to be received by the town, city, or ward clerk no later than 5 p.m. on the day of the election.
\tII. Modifies the procedure for refusal to certify an application for an absentee ballot.
\tIII. Permits candidates for state office to obtain a statewide list of absentee voter applicants from the secretary of state.
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Explanation:\tMatter added to current law appears in bold italics.
\t\tMatter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
\t\tMatter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
9Mar2016... 0247h
04/28/2016 1513s
1June2016... 2043CofC
1June2016... 2161EBA
\t16-2634\t06/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Sixteen
AN ACT\trelative to receipt of absentee ballots.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
\t1 Absentee Voting; Procedure by Voter. Amend RSA 657:17 to read as follows:
\t657:17 Procedure by Voter. After marking the ballot, the voter or the person assisting a blind voter shall enclose and seal the same in an inner envelope. The voter shall execute the affidavit. The voter or the person assisting the blind voter shall enclose and seal the inner envelope with the affidavit in an outer envelope. The voter shall then endorse on the outer envelope his or her name, address, and voting place and shall mail the envelope, affixing postage, or personally deliver it or have it delivered by the voter's spouse, parent, sibling, or child to the city or town clerk from whom it was sent. The city or town clerk, or ward clerk on election day at the polls, shall not accept an absentee ballot from a family member unless the family member completes a form provided by the secretary of state, which shall be maintained by the city or town clerk, and the family member presents a government-issued photo identification or has his or her identity verified by the city or town clerk. Absentee ballots delivered through the mail or by the voter's spouse, parent, sibling, or child shall be received by the town, city, or ward clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. on the day of the election.
\t2 Absentee Voting; Procedure for Refusal to Certify. Amend RSA 657:16 to read as follows:
\t657:16 Refusal to Certify; Procedure. If he or she refuses to certify the application, the town or city clerk shall notify the applicant in writing within 7 days to that effect. The town or city clerk shall provide the applicant with an absentee ballot and a notice that the ballot will not be counted unless the applicant submits the documents necessary to complete an absentee registration. The applicant shall be advised in writing what documents, if any, have been received in proper form and which the applicant must submit in the outer envelope that contains the absentee ballot envelope. The town or city clerk shall mark the absentee ballot application, the absentee ballot affidavit, and the outer envelope with the words "Not Registered.'' Upon receipt of an outer envelope marked "Not Registered,'' the clerk shall open the outer envelope. If the applicant returns the required documents [in proper form] with the absentee ballot [and if the applicant is found to be qualified] by the date set for correcting the checklist under RSA 654:27 and RSA 654:28, the town or city clerk[,] shall forward the registration forms to the supervisors of the checklist and, if the applicant is found to be qualified, the applicant shall be registered and his or her absentee ballot shall be processed in the same manner as the absentee ballot of a previously registered voter. All documents received after the deadline for correcting the checklist under RSA 654:27 and RSA 654:28 shall be processed as election day registrations under RSA 654:7-a. If the ballot is returned without the required documents in proper form, the ballot shall be marked in the manner set forth by law for successfully challenged absentee ballots and preserved in accordance with RSA 33-A:3-a. The clerk shall preserve the application of any applicant who is not registered as a voter until the time set by law for the destruction of the ballots after the election at which time the application shall be destroyed. Any justice of the superior court has jurisdiction in equity upon such notice as he or she may order to require that the name of the person making application for an absentee ballot be placed upon the checklist or registered as a member of any party and be sent an absentee ballot.
\t3 Absentee Voting; Sending Absentee Ballots. Amend RSA 657:15 to read as follows:
\t657:15 Sending Absentee Ballots.
\t\tI. When the verification required by RSA 657:12 or 657:13 has been made, the clerk shall retain the application and, without delay, personally deliver, email, or mail to the applicant the appropriate ballot and materials as described in RSA 657:7 through 657:8 or designate an assistant to deliver such materials to the applicant. The clerk's option to email an absentee ballot to a voter shall apply only to absentee ballot applications from UOCAVA voters. The clerk shall send absentee ballots in response to verified absentee ballot requests until 5:00 p.m. on the day before the election. The clerk may not designate as an assistant any person who is a candidate for nomination or office or who is working for such a candidate. Any ballots sent pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be mailed or delivered only by officials from the city or town clerk's office and delivered only to the applicant. If the address to which the absent voter's ballot is sent is outside the United States or Canada, such papers shall be sent by air mail. Said clerks shall keep lists of the names and addresses, arranged by voting places, of all applicants to whom official absentee ballots have been sent, and shall identify those official absentee ballots which have been returned to the clerk and shall record the absentee voter applicant information in the statewide centralized voter registration database. [Candidates whose names appear on the ballot and persons bearing notarized requests or copies of notarized requests from candidates whose names appear on the ballot may obtain a list of absentee voter applicants, excluding voters who have presented to the supervisors of the checklist valid protective orders pursuant to RSA 173-B;] The lists shall not be available for public inspection at any time without a court order.
\t\tII. Candidates whose names appear on the ballot and persons bearing notarized requests or copies of notarized requests from candidates whose names appear on the ballot may obtain a list of absentee voter applicants from the clerk, excluding voters who have presented to the supervisors of the checklist valid protective orders pursuant to RSA 173-B.
\t\tIII. Candidates whose names appear on the ballot for statewide office and persons bearing a notarized request from candidates whose names appear on the ballot for statewide office may obtain a statewide list of absentee voter applicants, excluding voters who have presented to the supervisors of the checklist valid protective orders pursuant to RSA 173-B from the secretary of state. Information on the statewide absentee voter list shall be limited to voter name, voter ID number, and the date the absentee ballot was requested.
\t\tIV. The subscription fee for providing a statewide list of absentee voters by the secretary of state under this section shall be $2,000 per election, all of which shall be deposited in the election fund under RSA 5:6-d. The secretary of state shall update the original list of absentee voters on a regular basis.
\t4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.