HB 639-FN – AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
01Feb2006… 0209h
2005 SESSION
03/09
HOUSE BILL 639-FN
AN ACT relative to voters presenting citizenship or domicile affidavits to register on election day.
SPONSORS: Rep. Albert, Straf 1; Rep. Cataldo, Straf 3; Rep. Maybeck, Graf 8
This bill establishes a procedure for marking the ballots of voters who register on election day using citizenship or domicile affidavits. This bill also establishes a procedure for challenging the ballot of a person who presented an inaccurate citizenship or domicile affidavit.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
01Feb2006… 0209h
05-0506
03/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five
AN ACT relative to voters presenting citizenship or domicile affidavits to register on election day.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 General Voter Registration; Determining Qualifications of Applicant. Amend RSA 654:12 to read as follows:
654:12 Determining Qualifications of Applicant.
I. When determining the qualifications of an applicant, the supervisors of the checklist, or the town or city clerk, shall require the applicant to present proof of citizenship, age, and domicile, as provided in the following categories:
(a) CITIZENSHIP. The supervisors of the checklist, or the town or city clerk, shall accept from the applicant any one of the following as proof of citizenship: the applicant's birth certificate, passport, naturalization papers if the applicant is a naturalized citizen, a citizenship affidavit, or any other reasonable documentation which indicates the applicant is a United States citizen. The citizenship affidavit shall be in the following form:
Date: ___________
CITIZENSHIP AFFIDAVIT
Name: ______________________________
Name at birth if different: ______________________________
Place of birth: ______________________________
Date of birth: __________
Date and Place of Naturalization: ____________________________
I hereby swear and affirm, under the penalties for voting fraud set forth below, that I am a United States citizen and that to the best of my knowledge and belief the information above is true and correct. I hereby acknowledge that, if I present this affidavit on election day, my ballot will be marked and subject to challenge during a recount, which may occur several weeks
after election day. I also am aware that my ballot will not be associated with my affidavit unless the affidavit is determined to be invalid.
__________________________________
(Signature of applicant)
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.
On the date shown above, before me, ____________________ (print name of notary public, justice of the peace, election officer), appeared ____________________ (print name of person whose signature is being notarized), (known to me or satisfactorily proven (circle one)) to be the person whose name appears above, and he or she subscribed his or her name to the foregoing affidavit and swore that the facts contained in this affidavit are true to the best of his or her knowledge and belief.
________________________________________
Notary Public/Justice of the
Peace/Official Authorized by RSA 659:30
(b) AGE. Any reasonable documentation indicating the applicant is 18 years of age or older.
(c) DOMICILE. Any reasonable documentation which indicates that the applicant has a domicile and intends to maintain a domicile, as defined in this chapter, in the town, city, or ward in which he or she desires to vote, or, if the applicant does not have reasonable documentation in his or her possession at the place and time of voter registration, an affidavit in the following form:
DOMICILE AFFIDAVIT
Date: _________
Name: ___________________________________
Current Domicile Address: __________________________________
Street Ward Number
________________________________
Town or City Zip Code
Date when current domicile was established: Month: _______ Year:_______
Place and date of birth: ____________________
Address of last previous domicile: __________________________
Street Ward Number
____________________________
Town or City Zip Code
I hereby swear and affirm, under the penalties for voting fraud set forth below, that my established domicile is at the current domicile address I have entered above and that to the best of my knowledge and belief the information above is true and correct. I hereby acknowledge that, if
I present this affidavit on election day, my ballot will be marked and subject to challenge during a recount, which may occur several weeks after election day. I am also aware that my ballot will not be associated with my affidavit unless the affidavit is determined to be invalid.
________________________
(Signature of applicant)
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.
On the date shown above, before me, ____________________ (print name of notary public, justice of the peace, election officer), appeared __________ (print name of person whose signature is being notarized), (known to me or satisfactorily proven (circle one)) to be the person whose name appears above, and he or she subscribed his or her name to the foregoing affidavit and swore that the facts contained in this affidavit are true to the best of his or her knowledge and belief
_______________________________
Notary Public/Justice of the
Peace/Official Authorized by RSA 659:30
II. The supervisors may refuse to add the name of an applicant to the checklist if he or she fails to present the evidence or an affidavit as required by this section. Without limiting the acceptance of other forms of proof of domicile or identity deemed reasonable by the supervisors:
(a) Any one of the following documents is presumptive evidence that the individual seeking to vote meets the domicile requirement, provided the document is currently valid, was issued to or in the name of the applicant, and shows the address the applicant claims as a domicile:
(1) New Hampshire driver's license.
(2) New Hampshire vehicle registration.
(3) Armed services identification, or other photo identification issued by the United States government.
(b) Any one of the following is presumptive evidence of the identity of an applicant sufficient to satisfy the identity requirement for an official authorized by RSA 659:30 to take the oath of an applicant swearing to a citizenship, domicile, or election day affidavit:
(1) Photo driver's license issued by any state or the federal government.
(2) United States passport, armed services identification, or other photo identification issued by the United States government.
(3) Photo identification issued by local or state government.
(c) The presumptions established in this paragraph may be defeated by evidence establishing that it is more likely than not that the applicant is not qualified as a voter.
III. All information provided in a citizenship affidavit or a domicile affidavit presented under this section which establishes the affidavit’s qualifications as a voter must be accurate for the resulting vote to be valid.
IV. Any person presenting a citizenship or domicile affidavit in order to register on election day shall be provided with an affidavit form marked in a manner established by the secretary of state so as to promote voter privacy but allow a ballot to be matched to an invalid affidavit. The secretary of state shall further establish the procedure for the submission of the affidavits and tracking of ballots supported by affidavits.
2 New Section; General Provisions for Recounts; Affidavit Challenges. Amend RSA 660 by inserting after section 16 the following new section:
660:16-a Affidavit Challenges. Any person may challenge a ballot being recounted by stating reasons satisfactory to the secretary of state why the voter’s citizenship or domicile affidavit is inaccurate. The secretary of state shall notify the voter whose ballot is challenged, and the voter or any candidate on the ballot shall be permitted to present evidence to refute the challenge. The process to be followed for this procedure shall be as established by the secretary of state and set forth in the manual on the New Hampshire election laws and procedures for conducting elections.
3 Board of Recount; Affidavit Challenges. Amend RSA 669:32 to read as follows:
669:32 Board of Recount.
I. At the time and place so appointed and notified, the clerk shall publicly break the seal of and open the package in which the ballots of said election are kept; and, thereupon, said ballots shall be recounted by the clerk, the moderator, and the selectmen of said town who shall constitute the board of recount. Any member of the board of recount who is one of the candidates for the office being recounted shall disqualify himself or herself from the board of recount for all official duties of said board. The moderator shall appoint an assistant who shall take the same oath as, serve in the same capacity as, and have all the powers of the recount official whom he or she has replaced.
II. Any person may challenge a ballot being recounted by stating reasons satisfactory to the board of recount why the voter’s citizenship or domicile affidavit is inaccurate. The board of recount shall notify the voter whose ballot is challenged, and the voter or any candidate on the ballot shall be permitted to present evidence to refute the challenge. The process to be followed for this procedure shall be as established by the secretary of state and set forth in the manual on the New Hampshire election laws and procedures for conducting elections.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
05-0506
Revised 2/22/05
HB 639 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to voter registration.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Departments of State, Health and Human Services, Education, and Safety state this bill will increase state and local expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2006 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county, and local revenue or county expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of State states the Department would be required to hire one Training Coordinator at labor grade 21, three Program Assistant II positions at labor grade 15, and one Secretary position at labor grade 9. The Training Coordinator would organize and run the overall training required to comply with the National Voter Rights Act (NVRA), and the Program Assistants would be assigned to the additional state agencies charged with registration of voters (Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education, and Department of Safety). In addition to the rental of office space and the purchase of furniture and office equipment, two vehicles would have to be purchased for conducting extensive training outside of Concord. Printing costs would increase to provide for educational materials and forms required by the NVRA. Assuming annual step increases, and benefits at 44% of salary, the estimated fiscal impact on state general fund expenditures is as follows:
FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008 FY 2009
First Year Start-Up Costs
Office Furniture $ 13,000
Office Equipment 15,000
Two Vehicles 21,578
Total $ 49,578
Secretary 30,011 $ 31,210 $ 32,468 $ 33,726
3 Program Assistants 113,937 118,878 123,822 129,033
Training Coordinator 48,732 50,769 53,015 55,231
Office Rent 12,000 12,000 12,000 12,000
Fuel/Vehicle Maintenance 4,000 4,000 4,000 4,000
Education Materials 200,000 200,000 200,000 200,000
Fiscal Year Total $458,258 $416,857 $425,305 $433,990
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) states the Department of State will provide all materials and forms to be used, and training on implementation of the bill. Primary anticipated costs to DHHS would include staff time to attend training, costs for mailing completed forms to appropriate supervisors of the checklist, and additional time spent with each applicant to distribute voter registration applications and assist in completion of forms. The Department is unable to determine the exact fiscal impact at this time, since the scope and amount of time for training, and the number of registrations to be processed is unknown.
The Department of Education states the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) indicates that public schools are among the state and local agencies that shall be designated which may require additional staff. The Department does provide services to the disabled through the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation service delivery and customer service and its seven regional offices. In order to maintain the current caseloads and process voter registration applications, it is likely the Department will require additional staff in some of the regional offices. The Department is moving towards an electronic on-line teacher certification system, which would make including voter registration material with recertification difficult unless the information supplied by the Department of State could also be provided in an electronic format. Given the fact that various state and local governmental agencies will be processing voter registration applications and sending the applications to local town and city officials, it is likely that municipal governments will require additional staff to verify and process voter information. The exact fiscal impact cannot be determined at this time.
The Department of Safety states this bill will require the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to attach a voter registration form to each driver license application and modify its change of address form to provide for a qualified elector to state that the form is not for voter registration purposes. The DMV estimates that it will be necessary to hire five Clerk I positions at labor grade 2, replace its current stock of application and change of address forms, and increase postage expenditures. The Department assumes this bill would become effective in FY 2006. The estimated fiscal impact on state highway fund expenditures is as follows:
FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008 FY 2009
5 Clerk I Positions $ 77,905 $ 80,145 $ 82,585 $ 85,120
Benefits @ 44% 34,278 35,264 36,337 37,453
Application Forms
(618 Pads @ $2.71) 1,675 0 0 0
Address Change Forms
(425 packs @ $2.96) 1,258 0 0 0
Additional Postage 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
Fiscal Year Total $116,116 $116,409 $119,922 $123,573