Revision: April 16, 2025, 3:44 p.m.
Rep. Wilhelm, Hills. 21
Rep. Berry, Hills. 44
April 15, 2025
2025-1621h
06/05
Amendment to SB 222
Amend the title of the bill by replacing it with the following:
AN ACT relative to the state primary date.
Amend the bill by replacing all after the enacting clause with the following:
1 Election of Officers and Delegates; Election Dates; State Primary Election. Amend RSA 653:8 to read as follows:
653:8 State Primary Election. The state primary election shall be held on the second Tuesday in [September] June of every even-numbered year.
2 Voters and Checklists; Hearings on Alterations to Party Registration. Amend RSA 654:32 to read as follows:
654:32 Hearings on Alterations to Party Registration. Before each state or presidential primary election, the supervisors of the checklist shall be in session before each primary for the change of registration of legal voters as provided in RSA 654:34 or 654:34-a or both. Before the presidential primary, the session shall be on the Friday preceding the first day of the filing period, between 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and at the discretion of the supervisors for extended hours. Before the state primary election, the session shall be on Tuesday before the first [Wednesday] Friday in [June] March between 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and at the discretion of the supervisors for extended hours.
3 Voters and Checklists; Change of Registration. Amend RSA 654:34, IV to read as follows:
IV. No person, who is already registered to vote, whether his or her party membership has been previously registered or not, shall affiliate with a party or disaffiliate from a party between the first [Wednesday] Friday in [June] March and the day before the state primary election.
4 Elections; Nominations by Primary; Filing: General Provisions. Amend RSA 655:14 to read as follows:
655:14 Filing; General Provisions. The name of any person shall not be printed upon the ballot of any party for a primary unless he or she is a registered member of that party, he or she shall have met the age and domicile qualifications for the office he or she seeks at the time of the general election, he or she meets all the other qualifications at the time of filing, and he or she shall file with the appropriate official between the first [Wednesday] Friday in [June] March and the Friday of the following week a declaration of candidacy as provided in RSA 655:17.
5 Elections; Nominations; Personal Filing. Amend RSA 655:16 to read as follows:
655:16 Personal Filing. Except for those who must file with a town or city clerk, any person who files on the last day of the filing period must do so in person before the secretary of state[; provided, however, that this requirement shall not apply to the filling of vacancies by party committees. If the person must file with a town or city clerk and is filing on the last day of the filing period, he or she shall do so in person].
6 Elections; Nominations by Primary. Amend RSA 655:21 to read as follows:
655:21 Form. Primary petitions shall be made in the following form:
State of New Hampshire
County of ____________________ ss.
City (Town) of ____________________
I do hereby join in a petition for the printing on the primary ballot of the name of ____________________ whose domicile is in the city (town) of ______________ (ward, street, and number, if in a city), in the county of __________, for the office of ______________ to be voted for on Tuesday, the _____ day of [September] June, _____ (year), and certify that I am qualified to vote for a candidate for said office, that I am a registered member of the _____________ party, and am not at this time a signer of any other similar petition for any other candidate for the above office; that my domicile is in the city (town) of _____________ (ward, street, and number, if in a city), in the county of _____________. I certify that to my knowledge the above-named candidate is not a candidate for incompatible offices as defined in RSA 655:10, and that he or she is not a federal employee which makes him or her ineligible to file as a candidate for this office. I further certify that I believe the above-named person is especially qualified to fill said office.
I hereby swear, under the penalties for voting fraud set forth below, that the information above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.
_________________________________
Print Voter's name
______________________________
Voter's Signature
In accordance with RSA 659:34, the penalty for knowingly or purposefully providing false information when registering to vote or voting is a class A misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of imprisonment not to exceed one year and a fine not to exceed $2,000. Fraudulently registering to vote or voting is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000.
7 Elections; Nomination by Primary; Examination and Rejection. Amend RSA 655:26 to read as follows:
655:26 Examination and Rejection. The officer with whom primary petitions are filed shall immediately upon receipt thereof examine the same and ascertain whether they conform to the law. If found not to conform thereto or to be conflicting as provided in RSA 655:23, [he] they shall then endorse thereon the reason why such petition cannot be accepted and shall, within 24 hours, return the same to the candidate in whose behalf it was filed. In such case, the candidate may file supplementary petitions with the official, but not later than the third [Wednesday] Friday in [June] March.
8 Elections; Nominations; Straw Candidates. Amend RSA 655:31 to read as follows:
655:31 Straw Candidates. No person shall be a candidate for nomination at any primary unless his candidacy is bona fide and is filed for the actual purpose of personally seeking the nomination. Any candidate for nomination whose name is to be voted upon at primary election may, no later than the [Wednesday] Friday after the last day for filing declarations of candidacy and primary petitions, file a petition with the ballot law commission alleging that one or more candidates for the same nomination is not a bona fide candidate. Upon receipt of such a petition, the commission shall notify in writing all candidates of that party for the same nomination of the time and place for its hearing. After such hearing, the ballot law commission shall have the power and duty to order stricken forthwith from the primary ballot the name or names of any candidate or candidates for said nomination if the commission finds that such candidate or candidates is obviously not a bona fide candidate, obviously having filed not primarily for the purpose of seeking the nomination but primarily for the purpose of drawing votes which might otherwise be cast for some other candidate for the same nomination. The decision of the commission shall be final as to questions both of law and fact, and no court shall have jurisdiction to review such decision.
9 Elections; Nominations; No Declaration Filed. Amend RSA 655:32, I to read as follows:
I. In case no declaration shall be filed by a candidate for any nomination to be voted for at a primary, the nomination may be made by the appropriate party committee as provided in this section. The appropriate party committee shall notify the secretary of state in writing of a person it designates to fill the vacancy. The person so designated may accept the nomination by, on or before the [Wednesday] second Friday following the expiration of the period for filing declarations of candidacy as provided in RSA 655:14, filing with the secretary of state a declaration of candidacy as provided in RSA 655:17. Any candidate accepting a nomination under this paragraph who has already filed for an incompatible office as defined in RSA 655:10 shall withdraw the prior filing. Any vacancy created by the withdrawal of a filing may be filled pursuant to this section. If the candidate is designated for the office of governor, councilor, state senator, or state representative, he or she shall also file on or before the [Wednesday] second Friday following the period for filing declarations of candidacy the appropriate affidavit as provided in RSA 655:29. Any candidate so designated by a party committee who has not filed all the forms required by this section within the required period of time shall not have his or her name printed on the state primary election ballot for that office.
10 Elections; Nominations; Certification. Amend RSA 655:41, I to read as follows:
I. Each nomination paper shall be submitted to the supervisors of the checklist of the town or ward in which the signer is domiciled or is registered, and a majority of the supervisors shall certify whether or not the signer is a registered voter in said town or ward. The supervisors of the checklist shall certify nomination papers under this section in a timely fashion, so that their certification shall be complete for each candidate, together with any objections to the nomination papers submitted, no later than 5:00 p.m. on the [Wednesday] Friday 2 weeks before the primary. Each nomination paper shall be submitted to the supervisors of the checklist no later than 5:00 p.m. on the [Wednesday] Friday 5 weeks before the primary.
11 Elections; Nominations; Filing Deadline. Amend RSA 655:43, I to read as follows:
I. Nomination papers shall be filed with the secretary of state no later than 5:00 p.m. on the [Wednesday] Friday one week before the primary. Nomination papers to be filed shall be grouped by municipality. No nomination papers shall be accepted by the secretary of state unless the candidate shall have met the age and domicile qualifications for the office he or she seeks at the time of the general election and meets all the other qualifications at the time of filing; and if a candidate for the office of governor, executive councilor, state senator, or state representative, unless the candidate shall file with the nomination papers an affidavit of qualifications as provided in RSA 655:28 and 655:29; and if a candidate for United States senator or United States representative, unless the candidate shall meet the qualifications for office under RSA 655:3 and 655:4.
12 Ballot Law Commission; Hearing Date. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 665:5, I to read as follows:
I. If necessary, the ballot law commission shall meet on the third Thursday of [September] June in each general election year and the third Friday following the presidential primary election in order to hear and decide:
13 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2026.