Bill Text: NH SB54 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relative to the absentee ballot application form.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 6-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-05-20 - Retained in Committee [SB54 Detail]

Download: New_Hampshire-2021-SB54-Introduced.html

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SB 54  - AS INTRODUCED

 

 

2021 SESSION

21-0925

11/10

 

SENATE BILL 54

 

AN ACT relative to the procedure used to complete and submit applications for absentee ballots and absentee ballots.

 

SPONSORS: Sen. Giuda, Dist 2; Sen. Daniels, Dist 11; Rep. Pearl, Merr. 26; Rep. W. MacDonald, Rock. 5; Rep. M. Pearson, Rock. 34; Rep. Weyler, Rock. 13

 

COMMITTEE: Election Law and Municipal Affairs

 

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ANALYSIS

 

This bill requires that a voter includes a photocopy of his or her valid New Hampshire driver's license, nondriver's picture identification card, or other identification with the application for an absentee ballot and inside the outer envelope when returning an absentee ballot.

 

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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

21-0925

11/10

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One

 

AN ACT relative to the procedure used to complete and submit applications for absentee ballots and absentee ballots.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

1  Absentee Voting; Application; Procedure by Applicant.  Amend RSA 657:6 to read as follows:

657:6 Procedure by Applicant.  An application form for an absentee ballot shall be mailed or delivered to any person who applies therefor to the secretary of state or to any town or city clerk. It shall be filled out by the applicant and sent to the clerk of the town or city in which he or she desires to vote. Alternatively, a person may apply for an official absentee ballot by sending to said clerk a written statement containing the information required by RSA 657:4, I or by the federal official post card form.  The applicant shall include a photocopy of a valid form of identification that meets the requirements of RSA 659:13, II with his or her application.  Failure to enclose a photocopy of valid identification shall render the absentee ballot void.

2  Procedure for Absentee Voting; Procedure by Voter.  Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 657:17, I to read as follows:

I. After marking the ballot, the voter or the person assisting a blind voter or voter with a disability who is unable to mark his or her ballot shall enclose and seal the same in an inner envelope. The voter shall execute the affidavit on the envelope. A person assisting a blind voter or voter with a disability who needs assistance executing the affidavit shall sign a statement on the affidavit envelope acknowledging the assistance. The voter or the person assisting the blind voter or voter with a disability who needs assistance shall enclose and seal the inner envelope with the affidavit in an outer envelope, along with a photocopy of a valid form of identification that meets the requirements of RSA 659:13, II. The voter or the person assisting a blind voter or voter with a disability shall then endorse on the outer envelope the voter's name, address, and voting place.  Failure to enclose a photocopy of valid identification shall render the ballot void. The absentee ballot shall be delivered to the city or town clerk from whom it was received in one of the following ways:

3  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.