196:1 Cutoff. Amend RSA 657:22 to read as follows:

657:22 Cutoff. In any state election, a town or city clerk shall not accept any completed absentee ballots delivered to the clerk after 5:00 p.m. on election day except as provided in RSA 657:21-a, V and RSA 659:20-a. The clerk shall record absentee ballots received after such time in the statewide centralized voter registration database with the return date and shall mark the ballot as rejected due to absentee ballot receipt after election day. The clerk shall retain the unopened ballot until the time set for the destruction of other state election ballots as provided in RSA 659:100 at which time the envelopes shall likewise be destroyed, unopened and unexamined.

196:2 Assistance in Voting; Disabled Voter. Amend RSA 659:20-a to read as follows:

659:20-a Assistance in Voting; Disabled Voter. Any voter, after appearing at the polling place location prior to the closing of the polls to vote in person, who declares to the moderator under oath that said voter is unable to access a polling place due to physical disability, after appearing at the polling place location to vote in person shall, upon the voter's request, have an absentee ballot the required documents delivered to the voter outside the guardrail by the town or ward clerk or one of his or her assistants. The absentee ballot delivered by the town or ward clerk shall be delivered and processed using the same procedures as any other absentee ballot except that the voter shall be treated on the marked checklist as having voted in person cutoff time listed in RSA 657:22 shall not apply.

196:3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

Approved: July 05, 2017

Effective Date: September 03, 2017

196:1 Cutoff. Amend RSA 657:22 to read as follows:

657:22 Cutoff. In any state election, a town or city clerk shall not accept any completed absentee ballots delivered to the clerk after 5:00 p.m. on election day except as provided in RSA 657:21-a, V and RSA 659:20-a. The clerk shall record absentee ballots received after such time in the statewide centralized voter registration database with the return date and shall mark the ballot as rejected due to absentee ballot receipt after election day. The clerk shall retain the unopened ballot until the time set for the destruction of other state election ballots as provided in RSA 659:100 at which time the envelopes shall likewise be destroyed, unopened and unexamined.

196:2 Assistance in Voting; Disabled Voter. Amend RSA 659:20-a to read as follows:

659:20-a Assistance in Voting; Disabled Voter. Any voter, after appearing at the polling place location prior to the closing of the polls to vote in person, who declares to the moderator under oath that said voter is unable to access a polling place due to disability shall, upon the voter's request, have the required documents delivered to the voter outside the guardrail by the town or ward clerk or one of his or her assistants. The absentee ballot delivered by the town or ward clerk shall be processed using the same procedures as any other absentee ballot except that the cutoff time listed in RSA 657:22 shall not apply.

196:3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

Approved: July 05, 2017

Effective Date: September 03, 2017