HB 289 - AS INTRODUCED
2025 SESSION
25-0644
07/08
HOUSE BILL 289
AN ACT regarding domicile qualifications for voting.
SPONSORS: Rep. Wherry, Hills. 13; Rep. Wood, Merr. 13
COMMITTEE: Election Law
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ANALYSIS
This bill:
I. Prevents a person from claiming domicile if that person is a legal dependent of a person who does not live in New Hampshire.
II. Clarifies that obtaining a driver's license or registering a motor vehicle is intent of maintaining continuous presence within New Hampshire.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
25-0644
07/08
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Five
AN ACT regarding domicile qualifications for voting.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Elections; Voters and Checklists; Voter; Office Holder. Amend RSA 654:1, I and I-a to read as follows:
I. Every inhabitant of the state, having a single established domicile for voting purposes, being a citizen of the United States, of the age provided for in Article 11 of Part First of the Constitution of New Hampshire, shall have a right at any meeting or election, to vote in the town, ward, or unincorporated place in which he or she is domiciled. An inhabitant's domicile for voting purposes is that one place where a person, more than any other place, has established a physical presence and manifests an intent to maintain a single continuous presence for domestic, social, and civil purposes relevant to participating in democratic self-government. Domicile shall not be claimed if the person is a legal dependent under custody at an address outside the state of New Hampshire. A person has the right to change domicile at any time, however a mere intention to change domicile in the future does not, of itself, terminate an established domicile before the person actually moves.
I-a. A student of any institution of learning may lawfully claim domicile for voting purposes in the New Hampshire town or city in which he or she lives while attending such institution of learning if such student's claim of domicile otherwise meets the requirements of RSA 654:1, I and residency rules as established by the university system of New Hampshire.
2 New Paragraph; Elections; Voters and Checklists; Voter; Office Holder; Establishing Presence. Amend RSA 654:1 by inserting after paragraph I-a the following new paragraph:
I-b. For the purposes of RSA 654:1, I, obtaining a driver’s license under RSA 263:35 and/or the registration of a motor vehicle under RSA 261:45, I shall be considered an intent to maintain a single continuous presence within the state of New Hampshire.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
Jan. 7, 2025: Introduced 01/08/2025 and referred to Election Law HJ 2 P. 13