Revision: Jan. 9, 2023, 9:33 a.m.
HB 244 - AS INTRODUCED
2023 SESSION
23-0467
08/10
HOUSE BILL 244
AN ACT relative to the printing of the election day checklist.
SPONSORS: Rep. Kuttab, Rock. 17; Rep. K. Perez, Rock. 16; Rep. Sweeney, Rock. 25; Rep. Prudhomme-O'Brien, Rock. 13; Rep. Popovici-Muller, Rock. 17; Rep. Lynn, Rock. 17
COMMITTEE: Election Law
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ANALYSIS
This bill changes the latest time that an absentee ballot may be requested and requires the election day checklist to be printed no sooner than noon of the Monday prior to the election.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
23-0467
08/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Three
AN ACT relative to the printing of the election day checklist.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Sending Absentee Ballots; Time Change. Amend RSA 657:15, I to read as follows:
I. 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] 12:00 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. The lists shall not be available for public inspection at any time without a court order.
2 Posting Checklist; Absentee Ballot Voters RSA 654:26 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
654:26 Posting Checklist. The supervisors shall make and post copies of the current checklist at the office of the town or city clerk or at the town hall not sooner than 12:00 p.m. on the Monday before the election. The names of all voters who have requested an absentee ballot shall be printed in bold.
3 Absentee Voters. Amend RSA 659:55 to read as follows:
659:55 Absentee Voter Not to Vote in Person. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if a red ink "A.V." is properly placed against the name of a voter who has voted by absentee ballot or whose name was made bold, that voter against whose name the red ink "A.V." has been properly placed or made bold and who has voted by absentee ballot shall not be permitted to vote in person. The ballot clerk shall notify the moderator if a voter appears at the polling place on election day to vote and that voter's name has been marked as voting absentee on the checklist.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.