HB251: relative to party affiliation and voting in primary elections.

HB 251 - AS INTRODUCED

2003 SESSION

03-0869

03/10

HOUSE BILL 251

AN ACT relative to party affiliation and voting in primary elections.

SPONSORS: Rep. Bruno, Hills 45

COMMITTEE: Election Law

ANALYSIS

This bill:

I. Requires that a voter be registered as a member of a party prior to the date of the primary in order to be eligible to vote in that party's primary.

II. Changes the deadline for changes in party affiliation to 30 days prior to a primary election.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03-0869

03/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three

AN ACT relative to party affiliation and voting in primary elections.

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

1 Change of Registration; Date. Amend RSA 654:34, IV to read as follows:

IV. No person, who is already registered to vote, whether his or her party membership has been previously registered or not, shall affiliate with a party or disaffiliate from a party [between the first Wednesday in June and the day before the state] within the 30 days preceding any primary election.

2 Voters and Checklists; Application to Town or city Clerk, Changes to be Forwarded; Reference Deleted. Amend RSA 654:34-a, III to read as follows:

III. No application for a change of party affiliation shall be accepted on the day of a primary election, except as provided in RSA 654:34, I [and II].

3 Absentee Voting; Application; Forms; State Primary Election; Ballot Application Deleted. Amend RSA 657:4, I to read as follows:

I. For the state primary election: Absence (Excluding Absence Due to Residence Outside the Continental United States), Religious Observance, and Disability:

To the city or town clerk of

I, , hereby apply for an official absentee ballot for the party at the state primary election. I am a duly qualified voter, am registered as a member of the party, [(or I am now applying for a ballot),] and am entitled to vote in ward , city or town of . Mail absentee ballot to .

_ Signature

Street and Number

City or Town, State, and Country

4 Absentee Voting; Procedure for Absence, Religious Observance, and Disability and Overseas Voting; Provisions for State or Presidential Primary Elections; Ballot Application Deleted. Amend RSA 657:13 to read as follows:

657:13 Provisions for State or Presidential Primary Elections. Upon receipt of a properly executed application for an official absentee ballot, whether the form supplied by the secretary of state or a written statement containing the information required by the appropriate paragraph of RSA 657:4, a town or city clerk shall forthwith ascertain if the person is on the checklist of the town or city and is properly registered as to party designation. If such person is found to be on the checklist and to be properly registered [or if such person is found to be on the checklist but is not registered as a member of any party, but the information supplied states he is applying for a ballot of a political party, he shall be registered as a member of said party; and, in either case], the clerk shall send the materials provided for in RSA 657:15. If the person is not on the checklist, is on the checklist but is not registered as a member of any party, or is registered as a member of a party different from the one whose ballot [he] the person is applying for, the clerk shall refuse to certify as provided in RSA 657:16.

5 Voting Procedure; Special Provisions for State and Presidential Primary Elections; Undeclared Voters. Amend RSA 659:14, I to read as follows:

I. A person desiring to vote at a state or presidential primary election shall, at the time of announcing the person's name, also announce the name of the party to which the person belongs [or whether the person is registered as an undeclared voter]. [If the person's party membership has been registered before, the] The person shall be given only the ballot of the party with which the person is registered[, unless the person desires to vote the ballot of a party not having official existence at the time the person's party membership was previously registered, in which case the person may vote the ballot of such a party in the state primary election immediately following the political organization's official existence as a party, and not in any subsequent state primary election. A person may also vote the ballot of such a party in the presidential primary election only if the presidential primary election precedes the state primary election to be held in that same year. If the rules of a party permit a person who is registered as an undeclared voter to vote in the party's primary, any person desiring to vote in that party's primary shall also announce the name of that party at the time of announcing the person's name]. No person shall be permitted to vote in any more than one party primary during any primary election.

6 Repeal. The following are repealed:

I. RSA 654:34, II(b), relative to registration of undeclared voters at a primary.

II. RSA 654:34, III, relative to change of party registration by undeclared voter voting in primary.

III. RSA 654:34, V, relative to primary day registration cards.

IV. RSA 659:14, II, relative to party rules permitting undeclared voters to vote in primary.

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