§ 657:17 — Procedure by Voter

New Hampshire § 657:17

• Jurisdiction: New Hampshire
• Title LXIII: ELECTIONS
• Ch. 657: ABSENTEE VOTING
• Subdivision: Procedure for Absence, Religious Observance, and Disability and Overseas Voting

Text

I. After marking the ballot, the voter or the person assisting a blind voter or voter with a disability who is unable to mark his or her ballot shall enclose and seal the same in an inner envelope. The voter shall execute the affidavit on the envelope. A person assisting a blind voter or voter with a disability who needs assistance executing the affidavit shall sign a statement on the affidavit envelope acknowledging the assistance. If the voter or the person assisting the blind voter or voter with a disability who needs assistance is mailing the absentee ballot to the town or city clerk, the voter or the person assisting the blind voter or voter with a disability shall enclose and seal the envelope with the affidavit and return it to the town/city clerk. If the envelope with the affidavit is mailed it shall be sealed in the outer envelope provided. The voter or the person assisting a blind voter or voter with a disability shall then endorse on the outer envelope the voter's name, address, and voting place. The absentee ballot shall be delivered to the city or town clerk from whom it was received in one of the following ways:
(a) The voter or the voter's delivery agent may personally deliver the envelope, in which case the voter or the voter's delivery agent need not enclose the affidavit envelope in the outer envelope; or
(b) The voter or the person assisting the blind voter or voter with a disability may mail the ballot and affidavit envelope within the outer envelope to the city or town clerk, with postage affixed.
II. As used in this section, "delivery agent" means:
(a) The voter's spouse, parent, sibling, child, grandchild, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, stepparent, stepchild; or
(b) If the voter is a resident of a nursing home as defined in RSA 151-A:1, IV, the nursing home administrator, licensed pursuant to RSA 151-A:2, or a nursing home staff member designated in writing by the administrator to deliver ballots; or
(c) If the voter is a resident of a residential care facility licensed pursuant to RSA 151:2, I(e) and described in RSA 151:9, VII(a)(1) and (2), the residential care facility administrator, or a residential care facility staff member designated in writing by the administrator to deliver ballots; or
(d) A person assisting a blind voter or a voter with a disability who has signed a statement on the affidavit envelope acknowledging the assistance.
III. The city or town clerk, or ward clerk on election day at the polls, shall not accept an absentee ballot from a delivery agent unless the delivery agent completes a form provided by the secretary of state, which shall be maintained by the city or town clerk, and the delivery agent presents a government-issued photo identification or has his or her identity verified by the city or town clerk. Absentee ballots delivered through the mail or by the voter's delivery agent shall be received by the town, city, or ward clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. on the day of the election. A delivery agent who is assisting a voter who is blind or who has a disability pursuant to this section may not personally deliver more than 4 absentee ballots in any election, unless the delivery agent is a nursing home or residential care facility administrator, an administrator designee, or a family member, each as authorized by this section.

Legislative History

1979, 436:1. 1983, 220:4. 2010, 317:31. 2015, 166:1, eff. Aug. 25, 2015. 2016, 317:1, eff. Aug. 23, 2016. 2017, 216:8, eff. July 10, 2017. 2019, 261:1, eff. Sept. 17, 2019. 2025, 298:6, eff. Sept. 30, 2025.