HB 151 - AS INTRODUCED
2021 SESSION
21-0111
11/08
HOUSE BILL 151
AN ACT relative to changes of registration of certain voters after a primary election.
SPONSORS: Rep. Maggiore, Rock. 22
COMMITTEE: Election Law
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ANALYSIS
This bill provides that the registration of undeclared voters who register as members of a party
at any primary shall be returned to undeclared registrations by the supervisors of the checklist after
the close of the polls on election day.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
HB 151 - AS INTRODUCED
21-0111
11/08
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One
AN ACT relative to changes of registration of certain voters after a primary election.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 1 Voters and Checklists; Change of Registration. Amend RSA 654:34 to read as follows:
2 654:34 Change of Registration.
3 I. Change of registration of a voter whose party membership has been previously registered.
4 (a) Any legal voter whose party membership has been registered may change such
5 registration by appearing in person before the supervisors of the checklist for his or her town or
6 ward any time they meet, except as prohibited by paragraph IV, and stating to them under oath or
7 affirmation, if required, that:
8 (1) He or she intends to affiliate with and generally supports the candidates of the
9 party with which he or she offers to register, in which case he or she shall be registered as a
10 member of such party; or
11 (2) He or she does not wish to be registered as a member of any party, in which case
12 his or her party designation shall be removed from the checklist.
13 (b) He or she may also change such registration at any primary, upon making oath or
14 affirmation to the same effect, but he or she shall not be permitted in such case to vote the ballot of
15 any party at such primary.
16 II. Change of registration of a voter who has been registered as an undeclared voter.
17 (a) Any legal voter who has been registered as an undeclared voter may register as a
18 member of the party of the voter's choice by appearing before the supervisors of the checklist for the
19 voter's town or ward any time they meet, except as prohibited by paragraph IV, and stating to them,
20 under oath or affirmation, if required, that the voter intends to affiliate with and generally supports
21 the candidates of the party with which the voter offers to register, in which case the voter shall be
22 registered as a member of such party.
23 (b) A voter may also register as a member of a party at any primary by requesting to be
24 registered as a member and voting the ballot of the party of the voter's choice. [A voter may also
25 register once again as an undeclared voter after voting in a primary as a registered member of a
26 party by returning the card or signing the list of undeclared voters from the statewide centralized
27 voter registration database provided for in paragraph V. If cards are used, the voter shall return the
28 card to the person at the polls designated by the town or city clerk to accept the card. All such cards
29 and lists shall be in the possession of the supervisors of the checklist at the close of the polls on
30 election day.] Supervisors of the checklist will return the voter's registration to undeclared
31 after the close of the polls on election day.
HB 151 - AS INTRODUCED
- Page 2 -
1 III. Notwithstanding any provision of paragraphs I and II to the contrary, no person who
2 has voted in a primary may thereafter on the day of said primary change the person's party
3 registration[, unless, prior to voting in the primary, the person was registered as an undeclared
4 voter, in which case the person may once again register as an undeclared voter, as provided in
5 subparagraph II(b)].
6 IV. No person, who is already registered to vote, whether his or her party membership has
7 been previously registered or not, shall affiliate with a party or disaffiliate from a party between the
8 first Wednesday in June and the day before the state primary election.
9 [V.(a) At any primary, the supervisors of the checklist shall make available within the
10 polling place a card or list of undeclared voters from the statewide centralized voter registration
11 database to enable a voter who was registered as an undeclared voter but who changed registration
12 on the day of the primary in order to vote as a registered member of a party to change registration so
13 that the voter is registered once again as an undeclared voter. The card or list shall be in
14 substantially the following form:
15 Name ____________________________
16 (Print)
17 Address __________________________
18 __________________________________
19 __________________________________
20 I hereby request that my political party registration be changed as follows:
21 From: Democrat [ ], or Republican [ ], or (name of any party determined by the secretary of state
22 to have achieved official status under RSA 652:11) [ ]
23 To: Undeclared [ ]
24 Signed under the pains and penalties of perjury.
25 ______________________________________________
26 Date______________
27 (b) The supervisors of the checklist, upon receipt of such a card or list, shall keep it in
28 accordance with RSA 33-A:3-a and at the public session of supervisors of the checklist on election
29 day shall change the party of the voter as indicated on the card or list.]
30 2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
Statutes affected: Introduced: 654:34
latest version: 654:34