HB 144 - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
5Jan2022... 2249h
2021 SESSION
21-0112
11/06
HOUSE BILL 144
AN ACT relative to absentee ballot request forms.
SPONSORS: Rep. Bergeron, Hills. 29
COMMITTEE: Election Law
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ANALYSIS
This bill modifies the absentee ballot request forms and absentee ballot envelopes.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
5Jan2022... 2249h 21-0112
11/06
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One
AN ACT relative to absentee ballot request forms.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Absentee Ballot Application Forms. Amend the section heading and RSA 657:4, I to read as follows:
657:4 Absentee Ballot Application Forms.
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 hereby declare that (check one):
_____ I am a duly qualified voter who is currently registered to vote in this [town/ward] city, town, or unincorporated place.
_____ I am unable to register to vote in person because I am absent from the [town/city] city, town, or unincorporated place 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.
I will be entitled to vote by absentee ballot because (check one):
_____ I plan to be absent on the day of the election from the city, town, or unincorporated place where I am domiciled.
_____ I am confined in a penal institution for a misdemeanor or while awaiting trial.
[_____ I am requesting a 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.]
_____ I cannot appear in public on election day because of observance of a religious commitment.
_____ I am unable to vote in person due to a disability.
_____ 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.
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.
______ 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.
_____ I am requesting a 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.
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):
______ General Election to be held on
(MM/DD/YYYY)
______ State Primary Election to be held on
(MM/DD/YYYY)
_____ Presidential Primary Election 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)
[_____ General Election ]
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)
Please provide one of the following in case we need to contact you:
Applicant's Phone Number:______________________
Applicant's Email Address:______________________
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.
2 Absentee Ballots and Related Materials; Absence, Religious Observance, and Disability. Amend RSA 657:7, II to read as follows:
II. Affidavit envelopes of sufficient size to contain the ballots on which shall be printed the following:
YOUR COMPLETED ABSENTEE BALLOT MUST BE SEALED IN THIS ENVELOPE
I do hereby certify under the penalties for voting fraud set forth below that:
I am a voter in the city, [or] town, or unincorporated place of ___________, New Hampshire, in ward ____________________ [.]and that one of the following applies to me:
1) I will be absent on election day. Absence includes:
a) I will be out-of-town on election day.
b) I will be unable to vote in person because I will be working.
c) I will be unable to vote in person because I will be caring for children or infirm adults, with or without compensation.
d) I am voting absentee on the Monday immediately before the election, the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning, blizzard warning, or ice storm warning that applies to my town/ward, or unincorporated place, and I have concerns for traveling in the storm.
2) I am unable to vote in person due to disability.
3) I am unable to vote in person due to observance of a religious commitment, which prevents me from voting in person.
4) I am confined to a penal institution for a misdemeanor or while awaiting trial.
I have carefully read or had read to me the absentee voting instructions. I personally marked the absentee ballot enclosed in this envelope or, due to a disability, I had assistance in marking the absentee ballot.
Voter Signature__________________
A person assisting a voter with a disability shall sign this statement on this envelope acknowledging the assistance.
I attest that I assisted (print voter name) ________________________ because the voter is a person with a disability. I marked the ballot and/or this form as instructed by the voter.
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.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.