§ 657:19 — Sending Ballots to UOCAVA Voters

New Hampshire § 657:19

• Jurisdiction: New Hampshire
• Title LXIII: ELECTIONS
• Ch. 657: ABSENTEE VOTING
• Subdivision: Procedure for Uniformed Services, Temporarily Residing Outside the United States, and Federal Ballot Only Voting

Text

I. (a) Upon receipt of a properly executed application for an absentee ballot from a UOCAVA voter as defined in RSA 652:16-b, whether the form supplied by the secretary of state, the federal official post card form, or a written statement containing the information required by RSA 657:4, I, a town or city clerk shall retain the application and, without delay and except as provided in subparagraph (b), enter the application in the statewide centralized voter registration database.
(b) On the last business day no earlier than 45 days before a regularly scheduled general election, each city and town clerk shall deliver absentee ballot information to the secretary of state, on forms and methods prescribed by the secretary of state, for each UOCAVA voter as defined in RSA 652:16-b who, between the required meeting of the supervisors of the checklist pursuant to RSA 654:27 for the regularly scheduled primary election and the last business day prior to 45 days before the regularly scheduled general election, has requested an absentee ballot for the next regularly scheduled general election, unless that UOCAVA voter and his or her absentee ballot request has been entered into the statewide voter registration database.
II. If a request for a write-in absentee ballot is received from a UOCAVA voter 45 or more days before an election from a voter qualified to vote using a write-in absentee ballot in accordance with RSA 657:10-a, the clerk shall, without delay, send a write-in absentee ballot and instructions using either mail or electronic transmission, as requested by the voter.
III. If a request for an absentee ballot for a primary election, other than a presidential primary, or a special election is received from a UOCAVA voter 45 or more days before a primary election, the clerk shall send the ballot and instructions to the applicant no later than the day 45 days prior to the primary election using either mail or electronic transmission, as requested by the voter.
IV. If a request for an absentee ballot for a primary election, other than a presidential primary, or a special election is received from a UOCAVA voter less than 45 days before a primary election, the clerk shall send the ballot and instructions without delay using either mail or electronic transmission, as requested by the voter.
V. If a request for an absentee ballot for a regularly-scheduled general election or a presidential primary is received from a UOCAVA voter 45 or more days before a general election or a presidential primary the secretary of state may, on behalf of the clerk and in accordance with the voter's choice, electronically transmit or mail the appropriate absentee ballot and instructions to the voter no later than the day 45 days prior to the general election or the presidential primary. At the secretary of state's discretion, the secretary of state may enter in the statewide centralized voter registration database the mail date on which absentee voters were sent ballots pursuant to this paragraph. Alternatively, the secretary of state may provide each city and town clerk with a list of all voters sent absentee ballots by the secretary of state pursuant to this section. Upon receipt of such report from the secretary of state, the clerk shall record the date that the absentee ballot was sent to the voter in the statewide centralized voter registration database.
VI. If a request for a general election absentee ballot is received from a UOCAVA voter less than 45 days before a general election, the clerk shall, in accordance with the voter's choice, electronically transmit or mail the appropriate absentee ballot and instructions to the voter, without delay.
VII. All valid requests for absentee ballots for a general election received by a town and city clerk prior to the Monday before a primary election shall be entered into the statewide centralized voter registration database no later than that Monday and any valid requests received between that Monday and the forty-fifth day prior to a general election shall be entered into the statewide centralized voter registration database on the day received by the clerk. All requests for absentee ballots received after the date that is 45 days prior to an election shall be entered by the city or town clerk, without delay.
VIII. The clerk shall send the appropriate ballot and materials as described in RSA 657:8, regardless of whether the applicant appears on the checklist, and record the information pursuant to RSA 657:15.
IX. The town or city clerk shall forward a copy of the applicant's registration forms to the supervisors of the checklist.
X. A town or city clerk who finds an absentee ballot application invalid shall provide the UOCAVA voter the reason it is invalid within 7 days in accordance with the procedures in RSA 657:16.

Legislative History

1979, 436:1. 1986, 126:9. 1988, 209:10. 2003, 289:55. 2010, 317:34. 2011, 72:3. 2014, 113:1, eff. Aug. 10, 2014.