18apr01...0600h

2001 SESSION

01-0249

03/09

HOUSE BILL 154

COMMITTEE: Election Law

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill requires that a political party nominated by nomination papers submit its list of candidates for the general election to the secretary of state no later than 5:00 p.m. on the day of the primary. This also bill repeals the provision permitting parties to fill vacancies existing on a party ticket following the state primary election.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

18apr01...0600h

01-0249

03/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand One

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

1 Elections; Nomination by Nomination Papers; Filing Names of Candidates; Deadline Changed. Amend RSA 655:40-b to read as follows:

655:40-b Filing Names of Candidates. The names of the candidates to be listed on the state general election ballot under the political party nominated pursuant to RSA 655:40-a shall be submitted to the secretary of state no later than 5:00 p.m. on the [Monday immediately following] day of the primary. When the list of candidates is filed, it shall be accompanied by a declaration of candidacy signed by each of the candidates. The declaration of candidacy shall be in the form provided by RSA 655:17 with the understanding that, where the form says primary election, it shall be construed to mean general election.

2 Nominations for Incompatible Offices; Filling Vacancies. Amend RSA 659:91 to read as follows:

659:91 Nominations for Incompatible Offices. Any person who is nominated by the same political party for incompatible offices shall notify the secretary of state no later than the Monday following the date of the primary of which nomination he or she will accept. Thereupon the secretary of state shall declare a vacancy to exist in the nomination which such person declined. The vacancy shall not be filled [as provided in RSA 655:37 except that all the necessary declarations of candidacy and affidavits shall be filed no later than the second Friday following the date of the primary].

3 Candidate of One Party; Disqualification; Reference Deleted. Amend RSA 659:91-a, II to read as follows:

II. [Notwithstanding the provisions of RSA 655:37,] If any candidate is disqualified from accepting the nomination of another party by means of write-in votes because the candidate is disqualified under the provisions of paragraph I, then the nomination shall be given to the candidate who received the highest number of write-in votes and who was not disqualified under the provisions of paragraph I, so long as he or she receives 10 write-in votes, or write-in votes equaling 10 percent or more of the total votes cast for that party on the state primary election ballot, whichever is the smaller.

4 Vacancies Among County Officers; Reference Changed. Amend RSA 661:9, II(c) to read as follows:

(c) The provisions of RSA 655:32 [and RSA 655:37] relating to nominations by appropriate party committees for vacancies in an office on a primary [or general] election ballot[, respectively,] shall apply to vacancies to be filled under this paragraph.

5 Jurisdiction of Ballot Law Commission; Objection to Filling of Vacancy; Reference Changed. Amend RSA 665:4, II to read as follows:

II. When nomination papers as provided in RSA 655:40-43 or the filling of vacancies in nominations occurring after the primary as provided in RSA 655:[37] 38-39 are in apparent conformity with law, they shall be valid unless written objection thereto shall be filed with the secretary of state within the time limit provided in RSA 655:44 in the case of nominations by nomination papers or within 3 days of the date on which the appointment to fill a vacancy is filed with the secretary of state in the case of filling vacancies in nominations. If written objections are filed, the secretary of state shall forthwith notify the ballot law commission of the filing. The ballot law commission shall then meet as provided in RSA 665:6-a in order to hear and decide all the objections. The decision of the ballot law commission in such case shall be final as to questions both of law and fact, and no court shall have jurisdiction to review such decision.

6 Repeal. RSA 655:37, relative to vacancy for office on party ticket, is repealed.

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