§ 654:2 — Temporary Absence or Presence

I. A domicile for voting purposes acquired by any person in any town shall not be interrupted or lost by a temporary absence therefrom with the intention of returning thereto as his or her domicile. Domicile for the purpose of voting as defined in RSA 654:1, once existing, continues to exist until another such domicile is gained. Domicile for purposes of voting is a question of fact and intention coupled with a verifiable act or acts carrying out that intent. A voter can have only one domicile for voting purposes. No person shall be deemed to have lost a domicile by reason of his or her presence or absence while the voter or his or her spouse is employed in the service of the United States; nor while engaged in the navigation of the waters of the United States or of the high seas; nor while a teacher in or student of any seminary of learning; nor while confined in any public prison or other penal institution; nor while a patient or confined for any reason in any nursing, convalescent home or hospital, old folks or old age home, or like institution or private facility.
II. (a) A person present in New Hampshire for temporary purposes shall not gain a domicile for voting purposes. A person who maintains a voting domicile where he or she came from, to which he or she intends to return to as his or her voting domicile after a temporary presence in New Hampshire, does not gain a domicile in New Hampshire regardless of the duration of his or her presence in New Hampshire.
(b) A person who has been present and residing in one town or ward in New Hampshire for 30 or fewer days is presumed to be present for temporary purposes unless that person has the intention of making the place in which the person resides his or her one place, more than any other, from which he or she engages in the domestic, social, and civil activities of participating in democratic self-government including voting, and has acted to carry out that intent.
(c) For the purposes of this chapter, temporary purposes shall include, but are not limited to, being present in New Hampshire for 30 or fewer days for the purposes of tourism, visiting family or friends, performing short-term work, or volunteering or working to influence voters in an upcoming election.
(d) For the purposes of voter registration under RSA 654:7, IV(c), an applicant shall demonstrate an intent to make a place his or her domicile by providing documentation showing that the applicant has a domicile at the address provided on the voter registration form. Such documentation may include, but is not limited to:
(1) Evidence of residency, as set forth in RSA 654:1, I-a, at an institution of learning in that place;
(2) Evidence of renting or leasing an abode at that place for a period of more than 30 days, to include time directly prior to an election day;
(3) Evidence of purchasing an abode at that place;
(4) A New Hampshire resident motor vehicle registration, driver's license, or identification card issued under RSA 260:21, RSA 260:21-a, or RSA 260:21-b listing that place as his or her residence;
(5) Evidence of enrolling the person's dependent minor child in a publicly funded elementary or secondary school which serves the town or ward of that place, using the address where the registrant resides;
(6) Identifying that place as the person's physical residence address on state or federal tax forms, other government-issued identification, or other government forms that show the domicile address;
(7) Evidence of providing the address of that place to the United States Post Office as the person's permanent address, provided it is not a postal service or commercial post office box;
(8) Evidence of obtaining public utility services for an indefinite period at that place; or
(9) Evidence of arranging for a homeless shelter or similar service provider located in the town or ward to receive United States mail on behalf of the individual using that facility's address as the individual's domicile address for voting purposes.
(e) An applicant whose domicile is at an abode rented, leased, or owned by another and whose name is not listed on the rental agreement, lease, or deed may provide a written statement from a person who is listed on the rental agreement, lease, or deed, or other reasonable proof of ownership or control of the property or his or her agent who manages the property that the applicant resides at that address, signed by the owner or manager of the property under penalty of voting fraud if false information is provided.
III. An individual applying for registration as a voter 30 or fewer days before an election shall use the election day registration form required by RSA 654:7, IV(c) which shall require the applicant to provide the date he or she established his or her voting domicile in New Hampshire. The registration form shall require the voter to identify and provide evidence of a verifiable action he or she has taken carrying out his or her intent to make the place claimed on the voter registration form his or her domicile.
IV. A person may register on election day through use of an acknowledgment of domicile evidence obligation on the registration form and vote if he or she does not have any document in his or her possession at the polls providing evidence of an action carrying out his or her intent to make the address claimed as his or her voting domicile. A person relying on an acknowledgment of domicile evidence obligation to register must mail or present evidence of an action taken before registering to vote to carry out his or her intent to make the address claimed his or her domicile to the town or city clerk within 10 days following the election, or within 30 days in towns where the clerk's office is open fewer than 20 hours weekly.
V. The supervisors of the checklist, as soon as practical following an election, shall determine which registrants of that election acknowledged there was no evidence of intent to be domiciled at their address or relied solely on an acknowledgment of domicile evidence obligation to register and vote, and, of those registrants, those who failed to mail or present evidence of having taken some action to carry out their intent to establish domicile at the address listed on their voter registration applications to the clerk by the deadline. The supervisors shall attempt to verify that each such person was domiciled at the address claimed on election day by means including, but not limited to:
(a) Examining public records held by the town or city clerk, municipal assessing and planning offices, tax collector, or other municipal office that may house public records containing domicile confirmation; or
(b) Requesting 2 or more municipal officers or their agents or state election officers or their agents to visit the address and verify that the individual was domiciled there on election day. In unincorporated places that have not organized for the purposes of conducting elections, county officers may be asked to perform this function; or
(c) Referring the registrant's information to the secretary of state, who shall cause such further investigation as is warranted.
VI. Any case where supervisors are unable to verify the applicant's domicile or where evidence exists of voting fraud shall be promptly reported to the secretary of state and to the attorney general, who shall cause such further investigation as is warranted. After receiving confirmation from the secretary of state that an individual is not domiciled at the address provided, the supervisors shall also initiate removal of the person from the checklist by sending the person the notice required by RSA 654:44.

Legislative History

1979, 436:1. 2003, 289:24. 2014, 104:1, eff. Aug. 10, 2014. 2017, 205:1, eff. Sept. 8, 2017.