HB 1532 - AS INTRODUCED
2016 SESSION
\t16-2477
\t03/04
HOUSE BILL\t1532
AN ACT\tpermitting state or county prisoners to vote by absentee ballot.
SPONSORS:\tRep. P. Schmidt, Straf. 19; Rep. Spang, Straf. 6; Rep. Bartlett, Merr. 19; Rep. Verschueren, Straf. 13
COMMITTEE:\tElection Law
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ANALYSIS
\tThis bill permits state or county prisoners to vote by absentee ballot.
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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\t\tMatter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
\t16-2477
\t03/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Sixteen
AN ACT\tpermitting state or county prisoners to vote by absentee ballot.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
\t1 Rights Lost. Amend RSA 607-A:2, I to read as follows:
\t\tI. A person sentenced for a felony, from the time of his or her sentence until his or her final discharge, may not[:
\t\t\t(a) Vote in an election, but if execution of sentence is suspended with or without the defendant being placed on probation or he or she is paroled after commitment to imprisonment, he or she may vote during the period of the suspension or parole; or
\t\t\t(b) Seek the nomination of a political party or] become a candidate for or hold public office.
\t2 Rights Retained. Amend RSA 607-A:3 to read as follows:
\t607-A:3 Rights Retained by Convicted Person.
\t\tI. Except as otherwise provided by this chapter or by the constitution of this state, a person convicted of a crime does not suffer civil death or corruption of blood or sustain loss of civil rights or forfeiture of estate or property, but retains all of his or her rights, political, personal, civil, and otherwise, including the right to hold public office or employment, to vote, to hold, receive, and transfer property, to enter into contracts, to sue and be sued, and to hold offices of private trust in accordance with law.
\t\tII. A person on parole or probation or incarcerated in a state prison, county jail, or house of correction may vote in federal, state, county, and municipal elections where that person is a resident. A person incarcerated in a correctional facility may apply to register to vote in any municipality where that person has previously established a fixed and principal home and to which the person intends to return, provided such municipality is not the one where the prisoner is incarcerated unless the person resided there prior to incarceration.
\t3 Reference Deleted. Amend RSA 654:45, IV(b) to read as follows:
\t\t\t(b) Voter database record data shall be verified by matching the records with those of the department of safety and the federal social security administration as are required by law, and with the records of the state agency or division charged with maintaining vital records. For this purpose the voter registration record database may be linked to the state agency or division charged with maintaining vital records and the department of safety, provided that no linked agency or division may save or retain voter information or use it for purposes other than verifying the accuracy of the information contained in the voter database. The link authorized by this subparagraph shall not allow the department of state or election officials direct access to the motor vehicle registration or driver's license records maintained by the division of motor vehicles. The commissioner of safety may authorize the release of information from motor vehicle registration and driver's license records to the extent that the information is necessary to department of state and department of safety cooperation in a joint notification to individuals of apparent discrepancies in their records and to the extent that the information is necessary to resolve those discrepancies. The commissioner of safety and the secretary of state are authorized to enter into an agreement that establishes the services to be provided by the department of safety and the cost for those services. The department of safety shall not be required to provide any services under this subparagraph unless an agreement is in place and there are sufficient funds in the election fund to pay the cost for the services. The system shall facilitate the identification and correction of voter registration records whenever a registered voter has died or has been disenfranchised pursuant to part I, article 11 of the New Hampshire constitution or [RSA 654:5 through] RSA 654:6, or when the domicile address does not match the address provided by the same individual to the department of safety.
\t4 Repeal. RSA 654:5, relative to disqualification for felony, is repealed.
\t5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.