Bill Text: NH SB275 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relative to refusal to certify an absentee ballot application.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-05-28 - Signed by the Governor on 05/27/2014; Chapter 0074; Effective 07/26/2014 [SB275 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2014-SB275-Introduced.html
SB 275 – AS INTRODUCED
2014 SESSION
03/01
SENATE BILL 275
AN ACT relative to refusal to certify an absentee ballot application.
SPONSORS: Sen. Boutin, Dist 16; Rep. Fields, Belk 4
COMMITTEE: Public and Municipal Affairs
This bill modifies procedures by election officials following refusal to certify an absentee ballot application.
This bill was requested by the department of state.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
14-2714
03/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fourteen
AN ACT relative to refusal to certify an absentee ballot application.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Refusal to Certify Absentee Ballot Application. Amend RSA 657:16 to read as follows:
657:16 Refusal to Certify; Procedure. If he or she refuses to certify the application, the town or city clerk shall notify the applicant in writing within 7 days to that effect. The town or city clerk shall provide the applicant with an absentee ballot and a notice that the ballot will not be counted unless the applicant submits the documents necessary to complete an absentee registration. The applicant shall be advised in writing what documents, if any, have been received in proper form and which the applicant must submit in the outer envelope that contains the absentee ballot envelope. The town or city clerk shall mark the absentee ballot application, [and] the absentee ballot affidavit, and the outer envelope with the words “Not Registered.” Upon receipt of an outer envelope marked “Not Registered,” the town or city clerk shall open and retain the envelope and deliver the voter registration materials and affidavit envelope to the supervisors of the checklist of the voting place indicated thereon. If the applicant returns the required documents in proper form with the absentee ballot and if the applicant is found to be qualified, the town or city clerk, shall forward the registration forms to the [supervisor] supervisors of the checklist and the applicant shall be registered and his or her absentee ballot shall be processed in the same manner as the absentee ballot of a previously registered voter. If the ballot is returned without the required documents in proper form, the ballot shall be marked in the manner set forth by law for successfully challenged absentee ballots and preserved in accordance with RSA 33-A:3-a. Before an absentee ballot shall be challenged and rejected by the moderator on election day due to a determination by an election official that the person is ineligible to be registered to vote, the moderator shall notify the secretary of state or the attorney general of the grounds for the challenge and rejection. The clerk shall deliver the ballot envelope and contents to the supervisors of the checklist for verification, which shall be completed before the closing of the polls on election day. Within 7 days of an election official’s rejection of an absentee ballot, the clerk shall notify the voter and advise the voter how to determine whether his or her ballot was counted and, if it was not counted, the reason why it was not counted. The secretary of state’s website shall enable an absentee voter to ascertain the grounds for the moderator’s rejection of his or her ballot. The clerk shall preserve the application of any applicant who is not registered as a voter until the time set by law for the destruction of the ballots after the election at which time the application shall be destroyed. Any justice of the superior court has jurisdiction in equity upon such notice as he or she may order to require that the name of the person making application for an absentee ballot be placed upon the checklist or registered as a member of any party and be sent an absentee ballot.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
