HB 1531 - AS INTRODUCED
2020 SESSION
20-2557
11/03
HOUSE BILL 1531
AN ACT relative to the release of voting information in a presidential election.
SPONSORS: Rep. Prout, Hills. 37; Rep. Edwards, Rock. 4; Rep. Costable, Rock. 3; Rep. Verville, Rock. 2; Rep. A. Lekas, Hills. 37; Rep. T. Lekas, Hills. 37; Rep. Torosian, Rock. 14
COMMITTEE: Election Law
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ANALYSIS
This bill prohibits officers, employees, and contractors of the state of New Hampshire and its political subdivisions from releasing information relating to the number of votes cast in an election, subject to certain exceptions. The provisions of the bill are suspended until states that cumulatively possess a majority of the electoral votes have enacted the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact in substantially the same form and the enactments by such states have taken effect in each state.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
20-2557
11/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty
AN ACT relative to the release of voting information in a presidential election.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Canvass and Declaration: State General Election; Release of Information Relative to the Number of Votes Cast. Amend RSA 659 by inserting after section 84 the following new section:
659:84-a Release of Information Relative to the Number of Votes Cast in a State General Election.
I. Unless a recount has been requested pursuant to RSA 669, no officer, employee, or contractor of the state of New Hampshire or its political subdivisions shall publicly release the number of votes cast in the general election for president of the United States until after the time set by law for the meeting and voting of presidential electors has passed in all states.
II. The secretary of state may release, as soon as the information becomes available, the percentage of statewide votes cast for each presidential candidate to the nearest tenth of a percentage point, a list of presidential candidates in order of increasing or decreasing percentage totals, and the winner of the election. The secretary of state may also release partial results prior to receiving results from all voting districts, and in such case may release the percentage of the state's registered voters represented by those voting districts.
2 Contingency. Section 1 of this act is hereby suspended until such time that states cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes have enacted the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact in substantially the same form and the enactments by such states have taken effect in each such state.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
| Date | Body | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 28, 2020 | House | Hearing |
| Feb. 5, 2020 | House | Exec Session |
| House | Floor Vote | |
| Feb. 19, 2020 | House | Floor Vote |
Feb. 19, 2020: Inexpedient to Legislate: MA VV 02/19/2020 HJ 4 P. 10
: Committee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate (Vote 20-0; CC)
Feb. 19, 2020: Committee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate for 02/19/2020 (Vote 20-0; CC) HC 7 P. 6
Feb. 5, 2020: Executive Session: 02/05/2020 11:00 am LOB 308
Jan. 28, 2020: Public Hearing: 01/28/2020 10:00 am LOB 308
Jan. 8, 2020: Introduced 01/08/2020 and referred to Election Law HJ 1 P. 25