Revision: April 18, 2023, 3:56 p.m.
Election Law and Municipal Affairs
April 18, 2023
2023-1421s
08/10
Amendment to HB 244
Amend the title of the bill by replacing it with the following:
AN ACT relative to the delivery of absentee ballots.
Amend RSA 657:15, I as inserted by section 1 of the bill by replacing it with the following:
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] mail absentee ballots in response to verified absentee ballot requests [until 5:00] that have been received by 12:00 p.m. on the day before the election. The clerk shall provide an absentee ballot to any voter requesting an absentee ballot in person at the clerk's office up until 5:00 p.m. on the day before the election or as may be provided elsewhere in Title LXIII. 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.