Struck = removed from the bill ยท
added = the amendment's new text.
HB 481 - AS INTRODUCEDAMENDED SESSIONBY 25-0794THE 07/08SENATE HOUSE26Mar2025... BILL 481 AN ACT relative to moving the state primary date.
1360h 01/07/2026 3068s SESSION 25-0794 07/08 HOUSE BILL 481 AN ACT relative to the state primary date.
HB 481 - AS INTRODUCEDAMENDED 25-0794BY 07/08THE STATESENATE OF26Mar2025... NEW HAMPSHIRE In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Five AN ACT relative to moving the state primary date.
1360h 01/07/2026 3068s 25-0794 07/08 STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Five AN ACT relative to the state primary date.
The state primary election shall be held on the second Tuesday in June [September] June of every even-numbered year.
Before the state primary election, the session shall be on Tuesday before the first Wednesday[Wednesday] Friday in March [June] March between 7:00 p.m.
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[Wednesday] Friday in March [June] March and the day before the state primary election.
The name of any person shall not be printed upon the ballot of any party for a primary unless he or she is a registered member of that party, he or she shall have met the age and domicile qualifications for the office he or she seeks at the time of the general election, he or she meets all the other qualifications at the time of filing, and he or she shall file with the appropriate official between the first Wednesday[Wednesday] Friday in March [June] March and the Friday of the following week a declaration of candidacy as provided in RSA 655:17.
Nominations;
Personal Filing.
Amend RSA 655:16 to read as follows:
655:16 Personal Filing.
Except for those who must file with a town or city clerk, any person who files on the last day of the filing period must do so in person before the secretary of state[;
provided, however, that this requirement shall not apply to the filling of vacancies by party committees.
If the HB 481 - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE - Page 2 - person must file with a town or city clerk and is filing on the last day of the filing period, he or she shall do so in person].
6 Elections;
City (Town) of ____________________ HB 481 - AS INTRODUCED - Page 2 - I do hereby join in a petition for the printing on the primary ballot of the name of ____________________ whose domicile is in the city (town) of ______________ (ward, street, and number, if in a city), in the county of __________, for the office of ______________ to be voted for on Tuesday, the _____ day of June[September] [September],June, _____ (year), and certify that I am qualified to vote for a candidate for said office, that I am a registered member of the _____________ party, and am not at this time a signer of any other similar petition for any other candidate for the above office;
67 Elections;
If found not to conform thereto or to be conflicting as provided in RSA 655:23, they [he] they shall then endorse thereon the reason why such petition cannot be accepted and shall, within 24 hours, return the same to the candidate in whose behalf it was filed.filedIn such case, the candidate may file supplementary petitions with the official, but not later than the third [Wednesday] Friday in [June] March.
InHB such481 case,- theAS candidateAMENDED mayBY fileTHE supplementarySENATE petitions- withPage the3 official,- but8 notElections; later than the third Wednesday in March [June].
7Nominations; Ballot Law Commission;
Straw Candidates.
Amend RSA 655:31 to read as follows:
655:31 Straw Candidates.
No person shall be a candidate for nomination at any primary unless his candidacy is bona fide and is filed for the actual purpose of personally seeking the nomination.
Any candidate for nomination whose name is to be voted upon at primary election may, no later than the [Wednesday] Friday after the last day for filing declarations of candidacy and primary petitions, file a petition with the ballot law commission alleging that one or more candidates for the same nomination is not a bona fide candidate.
Upon receipt of such a petition, the commission shall notify in writing all candidates of that party for the same nomination of the time and place for its hearing.
After such hearing, the ballot law commission shall have the power and duty to order stricken forthwith from the primary ballot the name or names of any candidate or candidates for said nomination if the commission finds that such candidate or candidates is obviously not a bona fide candidate, obviously having filed not primarily for the purpose of seeking the nomination but primarily for the purpose of drawing votes which might otherwise be cast for some other candidate for the same nomination.
The decision of the commission shall be final as to questions both of law and fact, and no court shall have jurisdiction to review such decision.
9 Elections;
Nominations;
No Declaration Filed.
Amend RSA 655:32, I to read as follows:
I.
In case no declaration shall be filed by a candidate for any nomination to be voted for at a primary, the nomination may be made by the appropriate party committee as provided in this section.
The appropriate party committee shall notify the secretary of state in writing of a person it designates to fill the vacancy.
The person so designated may accept the nomination by, on or before the [Wednesday] second Friday following the expiration of the period for filing declarations of candidacy as provided in RSA 655:14, filing with the secretary of state a declaration of candidacy as provided in RSA 655:17.
Any candidate accepting a nomination under this paragraph who has already filed for an incompatible office as defined in RSA 655:10 shall withdraw the prior filing.
Any vacancy created by the withdrawal of a filing may be filled pursuant to this section.
If the candidate is designated for the office of governor, councilor, state senator, or state representative, he or she shall also file on or before the [Wednesday] second Friday following the period for filing declarations of candidacy the appropriate affidavit as provided in RSA 655:29.
Any candidate so designated by a party committee who has not filed all the forms required by this section within the required period of time shall not have his or her name printed on the state primary election ballot for that office.
10 Elections;
Nominations;
Certification.
Amend RSA 655:41, I to read as follows:
I.
Each nomination paper shall be submitted to the supervisors of the checklist of the town or ward in which the signer is domiciled or is registered, and a majority of the supervisors shall certify whether or not the signer is a registered voter in said town or ward.
The supervisors of the checklist shall certify nomination papers under this section in a timely fashion, so that their certification shall be complete for each candidate, together with any objections to the nomination HB 481 - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE - Page 4 - papers submitted, no later than 5:00 p.m.
on the [Wednesday] Friday 2 weeks before the primary.
Each nomination paper shall be submitted to the supervisors of the checklist no later than 5:00 p.m.
on the [Wednesday] Friday 5 weeks before the primary.
11 Elections;
Nominations;
Filing Deadline.
Amend RSA 655:43, I to read as follows:
I.
Nomination papers shall be filed with the secretary of state no later than 5:00 p.m.
on the [Wednesday] Friday one week before the primary.
Nomination papers to be filed shall be grouped by municipality.
No nomination papers shall be accepted by the secretary of state unless the candidate shall have met the age and domicile qualifications for the office he or she seeks at the time of the general election and meets all the other qualifications at the time of filing;
and if a candidate for the office of governor, executive councilor, state senator, or state representative, unless the candidate shall file with the nomination papers an affidavit of qualifications as provided in RSA 655:28 and 655:29;
and if a candidate for United States senator or United States representative, unless the candidate shall meet the qualifications for office under RSA 655:3 and 655:4.
12 Ballot Law Commission;
If necessary, the ballot law commission shall meet on the third Thursday of June [September] June in each general election year and the third Friday following the presidential primary election in order to hear and decide:
813 EffectiveAppointment Date.of Inspectors of Election.
ThisAmend actRSA shall658:2 taketo effectread Januaryas 1,follows: 2026.
658:2 Appointment.
Each state political committee of the 2 political parties which received the largest number of votes cast for governor at the last previous general election is authorized through their respective chairmen to appoint between May 15 and July 15 of each general election year 2 inspectors of election to act at each polling place.
If the number of voters qualified to vote at a polling place shall exceed 2,000, said political committees may each appoint for such polling place one additional inspector for each 1,500 qualified voters or fraction thereof in excess of 2,000.
By April 15 of each general election year, the secretary of state shall provide a list to the chairman of each such state political committee of the number of inspectors of election that should be appointed for each town or ward.
Each such state political committee may also appoint such equal number of additional inspectors as the moderator considers necessary for the efficient conduct of the election.
[On or before July 15] Between February 1 and April 30, the chairmen of said political committees shall notify the appointees and the town or ward clerk concerned as to appointments made under this authority.
If any such appointments are not made by said political committees and proper notification thereof given [on or before July 15] between February 1 and April 30, then the appointments shall be made by the selectmen of the town or ward in equal numbers from said 2 political parties.
14 Effective Date.
This act shall take effect January 1, 2028.