Bill Text: NH HB1266 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Making temporary modifications to the absentee voter registration, absentee ballot application, and absentee voting processes in response to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) disease.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-07-17 - Signed by Governor Sununu 07/17/2020; Chapter 14; I. Sec. 10-13 Eff: 01/01/2021 II. Rem. Eff: 07/17/2020 [HB1266 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2020-HB1266-Introduced.html
HB 1266 - AS INTRODUCED
2020 SESSION
20-2650
11/05
HOUSE BILL 1266
AN ACT relative to absentee ballot request forms.
SPONSORS: Rep. Bergeron, Hills. 29; Rep. W. Pearson, Ches. 16; Rep. Frost, Straf. 16; Sen. Levesque, Dist 12
COMMITTEE: Election Law
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ANALYSIS
This bill clarifies the requirements for absentee voting and makes related modifications to the absentee ballot request forms.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
20-2650
11/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty
AN ACT relative to absentee ballot request forms.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Elections; Absentee Voting; Eligibility; Absence, Religious Observance, and Disability Voting. Amend RSA 657:1, I to read as follows:
I. Any person who [will] may be absent on the day of any state election from the city, town, or unincorporated place in which he or she is registered to vote or who cannot appear in public on any election day because of his or her observance of a religious commitment or who is unable to vote there in person by reason of physical disability may vote at such elections as provided in this chapter. A person who is unable to appear at any time during polling hours at his or her polling place because of an employment obligation shall be considered absent for purposes of this chapter. For the purposes of this section, the term "employment" shall include the care of children and infirm adults, with or without compensation.
2 Absentee Voting; Application; Forms. Amend RSA 657:4, I to read as follows:
I. Prior to any state election, the secretary of state shall prepare the appropriate application forms for absentee ballots worded in substantially the following form. The secretary of state shall insert the names of all parties qualified as set forth in RSA 652:11 in the list of parties on the application form. The secretary of state shall prepare the application forms in such quantity as he or she deems necessary:
Absence (Excluding Absence Due to Residence Outside the United States), Religious Observance, and Disability:
I.
I hereby declare that (check one):
_____ I am a duly qualified voter who is currently registered to vote in this town/ward.
_____ OR I am unable to register to vote in person because I am absent from the town/city where I am domiciled and will be until after the next election, or I am unable to register in person due to a disability, and request that the forms necessary for absentee voter registration be sent to me with the absentee ballot.
II. New Hampshire law requires that you vote in person at the polling place for your town or ward unless one of the following apply.
I will be entitled to vote by absentee ballot because [(check one)]:
[_____] I [plan] may to be absent on the day of the election from the city, town, or unincorporated place where I am domiciled[.]; or
[_____] I am requesting [a] an absentee ballot for the presidential primary election and I may be absent on the day of the election from the city, town, or unincorporated place where I am domiciled, but the date of the election has not been announced. I understand that I may only make such a request 14 days after the filing period for candidates has closed[, and that if I will not be absent on the date of the election I am not eligible to vote by absentee ballot.]; or
[_____] I cannot appear in public on election day because of observance of a religious commitment[.]; or
[_____] I am unable to vote in person due to a disability[.]; or
[_____] I cannot appear at any time during polling hours at my polling place because of an employment obligation. For the purposes of this application, the term "employment shall include the care of children and infirm adults, with or without compensation[.]; or
[For use only on the Monday immediately prior to the election:] I cannot appear at my polling place on election day because the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning, blizzard warning, or ice storm warning for election day applicable to my city, town, or unincorporated place and either [(check one)]:
[______] I am elderly or infirm or I have a physical disability, and would otherwise vote in person but I have concerns for my safety traveling in the storm[.]; or
[______] I anticipate that school, child care, or adult care will be canceled, and would otherwise vote in person but will need to care for children or infirm adults.
Any person who votes or attempts to vote using an absentee ballot who is not entitled to vote by absentee ballot shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. RSA 657:24.
I am requesting an official absentee ballot for the following election (check one):
_____ Presidential Primary to be held on __________________
(MM/DD/YYYY)
(The date may appear as blank when the date is not known.)
_____ State Primary to be held on __________________
(MM/DD/YYYY)
_____ State General Election to be held on ______________
(MM/DD/YYYY)
For primary elections, I am a member of or I am now declaring my affiliation with the (check one):
_____ Republican Party
_____ Democratic Party
_____ (name of any party determined by the secretary of state to have achieved official status under RSA 652:11)
and am requesting a ballot for that party's primary.
Please print:
Applicant's Name:
____________________
(Last) (First) (Middle) (Sr., Jr., II., III)
Applicant's Voting Domicile (home address):
____________________
(Street Number) (Street Name) (Apt/Unit) (City/Town) (Ward) (Zip Code)
Mail the ballot to me at this address (if different than the home address):
____________________
(Street Number) (Street Name) (Apt/Unit) (City/Town) (Ward) (Zip Code)
Applicant's Phone Number : _________________________
Applicant's Email Address : __________________________
Applicant's Signature: __________________
Date Signed: ___________________________
(MM/DD/YYYY)
I attest that I assisted the applicant in executing this form because he or she has a disability.
Signature ____________________ Print Name ____________________
If your absentee ballot application or affidavit envelope has the printed name and signature of a person who assisted you with voting, your signature will not be compared to your signature on the absentee ballot affidavit to verify your identity. Otherwise, if your signatures do not appear to be made by the same person, your absentee ballot may not be counted.
The applicant must sign this form to receive an absentee ballot. Any person who witnesses and assists a voter with a disability in executing this form shall print and sign his or her name in the space provided on the application form. The moderator will not compare the voter's signature on the application with the signature on the absentee ballot affidavit when a person assisting the voter has signed the statement on the absentee ballot application or affidavit envelope that assistance was provided.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
