HB292: relative to the absentee ballot application process.

HB 292 - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

01/05/2022 2222s

2021 SESSION

21-0402

08/10

HOUSE BILL 292

AN ACT relative to the absentee ballot application process.

SPONSORS: Rep. Hill, Merr. 3; Rep. Silber, Belk. 2; Rep. Rice, Hills. 37; Rep. Rouillard, Hills. 6; Rep. Pearl, Merr. 26; Rep. Gunski, Hills. 6

COMMITTEE: Election Law

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill modifies the absentee ballot affidavit envelope.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

01/05/2022 2222s 21-0402

08/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One

AN ACT relative to the absentee ballot application process.

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

1 Absentee Ballots and Related Materials; Affidavit Envelopes. 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 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_

Print Name

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.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.