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Election Law and Municipal Affairs
February 14, 2023
2023-0519s
09/05
Amendment to SB 158
Amend RSA 657:7, II as inserted by section 1 of the bill by replacing it with the following:
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 of _______________, New Hampshire.
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, 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_________________
Printed Name _________________
Voter Address__________________
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.
Amend RSA 657:18 as inserted by section 4 of the bill by replacing it with the following:
657:18 Procedure by Clerk. Upon receipt of an outer envelope purporting to contain an official absentee voting ballot, the clerk of the city or town shall, subject to RSA 657:16, open the outer envelope and attach thereto the application for an absentee ballot to the affidavit envelope submitted by said voter and record the information pursuant to RSA 657:15. [All such envelopes] The affidavit envelopes shall be preserved unopened until election day.