Title LXIII, Elections

In any federal election where hours of polling are extended by a federal or state court order or other order, the moderator or his or her designee shall mark all ballots cast during the extended hours of polling "EH." These extended hours ballots shall be counted in the usual man…

I. A voter offering to vote at any state election may be challenged by any other voter registered in the town or ward in which the election is held, an election official, a challenger appointed by a political committee pursuant to RSA 666:4, or a challenger appointed by the attor…

I. No challenge may be asserted except in the form of a signed affidavit, under oath administered by an election official, in the following form: INFORMATION ON THE PERSON MAKING THE CHALLENGE Name of Person Making the Challenge: Last Name First Name Middle Name/Initial Party aff…

The secretary of state shall prepare and distribute to the town and ward clerks before every state election printed blanks for the affidavits required by RSA 659:27.

Any voter at any state or presidential primary election may challenge any other voter offering to declare himself as a member of a party or to vote the ballot of a party. Such challenged voter shall not be allowed to so declare or so vote until he makes an oath or affirmation tha…

Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the voters present at the polling place may vote to close the polls at any time that the number of those who have voted plus the number of absentee ballots received at the polls equals the number of names on the checklist.

The polls may not be closed pursuant to RSA 659:3 in Dixville, Hart's Location, or Millsfield until every person domiciled in the town who is not on the checklist has been contacted by the town clerk to see if they wish to register to vote prior to the closing of the polls.

The town clerk shall record the name and domicile of all challenged voters, the name and domicile of the person who challenged each such voter, the reason for each challenge, and the ruling on each challenge by the moderator or election official.

I. A person is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 if such person: (a) When registering to vote; when obtaining an official ballot; when casting a vote by official ballot; or when applying for a photo identification card for voting purposes, purposely or knowingly mak…

I. A person is guilty of a class B felony if, at any election, such person knowingly checks in at the checklist and casts a New Hampshire ballot on which one or more federal or statewide offices or statewide questions are listed if the person also casts a ballot in the same elect…

I. No voter shall allow his or her ballot to be seen by any person with the intention of letting it be known how he or she is about to vote or how he or she has voted except as provided in RSA 659:20. This prohibition shall include taking a digital image or photograph of his or h…

I. No mark of any nature shall be placed on any ballot by: (a) An election officer except as provided in RSA 659:20, 659:22, 659:26-a, and 659:51. (b) An auditor except as provided in RSA 660:34. II. Whoever knowingly violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

No person shall interfere or attempt to interfere with any voter when such voter is in the space within the guardrail or endeavor to induce any voter before voting to show how he marks or has marked his ballot. Whoever knowingly violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemea…

No person shall forge or falsely make the official endorsement on any official ballot, or furnish to any voter a ballot with the intent that such voter shall use the same in voting instead of the ballot given him by the ballot clerk, or take or remove any ballot outside the guard…

Any person who shall directly or indirectly give intoxicating liquor to a voter at any time with a view to influencing any election shall be guilty as provided in RSA 640:2.

At all state elections in towns and cities the polls shall open not later than 11 o'clock in the morning and shall close not earlier than 7 o'clock in the evening. In cities, the city council shall determine the polling hours no later than 30 days prior to a state election.

I. At any annual town meeting, any town may vote to place a question on the state election ballot to change the hours at which polls shall open, provided that the polls shall not open later than 11 o'clock in the morning and shall not close earlier than 7 o'clock in the evening. …

I. No person shall directly or indirectly bribe any person not to register to vote or any voter not to vote or to vote for or against any question submitted to voters or to vote for or against any ticket or candidate for office at any election. II. No person shall use or threaten…

Any person who, on the day of any election, knowingly blocks, or solicits another person to block, the access of any candidate or committee to the candidate's or the committee's communications equipment or services with the intent of interfering with campaign activity shall be gu…

I. No person shall use or threaten force, violence, or any tactic of coercion or intimidation to knowingly discourage, interfere with, or compel any election officer, as defined in RSA 652:14, and other appointed individuals assisting at the polling place, such as ballot clerks a…

Any person who shall assault a town, city, or ward officer as provided in RSA 631 in the discharge of any duty of his office at any election shall be guilty of a class A felony or a class B felony, but never less than a class B felony, other provisions of the law to the contrary …

Whoever shall take away, tamper with, injure, attempt to injure, destroy, or attempt to destroy any electronic ballot counting device for the counting of ballots to be used or being used in an election or whoever shall prevent or attempt to prevent the correct operation of such d…

I. Electioneering shall be prohibited within the polling place building, provided that nothing in this section shall apply to the posting of sample ballots by election officials, pursuant to RSA 658:26, which have not been marked as voting for any candidate or measure. II. The mo…

No election officer shall electioneer while in the performance of his official duties. For the purposes of this section, "electioneer" shall mean to act in any way specifically designed to influence the vote of a voter on any question or office. Any person who violates this provi…

I. No public employee, as defined in RSA 273-A:1, IX,shall electioneer while in the performance of his or her official duties. II. No public employee shall use government property or equipment, including, but not limited to, telephones, facsimile machines, vehicles, and computers…

It shall be the responsibility of the moderator to report any violation occurring under RSA 659:34 through RSA 659:44 to the attorney general. All fines imposed under RSA 659:35 through RSA 659:44 shall be paid to the county in which the offense was committed. All penalties asses…

No person shall take or cause any photograph to be taken within the guardrail that captures another voter or another voter's ballot.

No absentee ballot shall be processed or counted unless it is delivered to the moderator at the proper polling place by the time identified in RSA 659:49, subject to exceptions identified in RSA 657:21-a and RSA 657:22.

If the officers charged with the duty of processing absentee ballots are cognizant of the fact that the voter has died prior to the opening of the polls, they shall not open the envelope containing the absentee ballot.

I. Processing of previously received absentee ballots shall begin at 1:00 p.m. unless a different time, that is no earlier than 2 hours after the opening of the polls, is posted and announced in accordance with paragraph II. The processing of the absentee ballots shall not unnece…

The moderator or the moderator's designee may authorize the opening of absentee ballot outer envelopes on election day prior to the time established for processing absentee ballots in RSA 659:49, provided that the opening of the outer envelopes occurs in public with notice of the…

I. The moderator shall begin processing absentee ballots by clearly announcing that he or she is about to open the envelopes which were delivered to him or her. The moderator shall then remove the envelope containing the ballots of each absentee voter and, for those absentee ball…

I. All absentee ballots are subject to challenge after the moderator publicly announces the name of the absentee voter, except for voters provided for in RSA 7:46, but not after the ballot is removed from the envelope. No challenge to an absentee ballot may be asserted except in …

If the absentee ballot is not challenged, the moderator shall, after announcing the name of the voter, open the envelope containing the ballot so the affidavit is not destroyed. The moderator shall then take the ballot out of the envelope without unfolding the ballot or without p…

I. Except as provided in paragraph II, if the moderator finds that the absentee voter is not entitled to vote, the moderator shall not open the envelope containing the ballot and shall mark across the face of the envelope the reason the ballot is rejected, such as "rejected as no…

No absentee ballot shall be rejected by the moderator for any immaterial addition, omission, or irregularity in the preparation or execution of any writing or affidavit required herein.

No electronically transmitted absentee ballot shall be rejected by the moderator for any ballot, envelope, or affidavit weight, size, or color, or any ink font size, alignment, or color.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if a red ink "A.V." is properly placed against the name of a voter who has voted by absentee ballot, that voter against whose name the red ink "A.V." has been properly placed and who has voted by absentee ballot shall not be permitted t…

After the closing of the polls at a state election, the moderator and the town or ward clerk shall certify on the checklist used by them that such checklist is in fact the one used by them at said election and that it contains a correct and complete list of the legal voters in th…

The certified checklist shall be used to prepare the election return as provided in RSA 659:74 and shall then be delivered to the supervisors by the town or ward clerk.

Any election official who is also a candidate for office, other than a position of an election official, shall not be allowed to remain in the area designated for the counting of votes within the guardrail during the counting of ballots for which he or she is a candidate for an o…

The moderator may order the assistant moderator in writing to process absentee ballots and to count the votes cast at the additional polling place in the presence of and with the assistance of the assistant town clerk and election officials in the manner prescribed by this chapte…

Except as provided in RSA 659:3, in all state elections, the voters present at the polling place may vote to keep the polls open until a later hour but may not vote to close the polls at an earlier hour than that prescribed in the warrant.

The moderator, or the moderator pro tempore if the moderator is disqualified under RSA 658:24, shall oversee the counting of votes by other election officers, including the selectmen and the town clerk, and may discharge any other duties relating to the counting of votes.

After all absentee ballots have been processed, or processed and counted, as provided in RSA 659:49-55, and after the polls have closed, the election officials, except those disqualified in accordance with RSA 659:58, shall, under the supervision of the moderator, immediately beg…

Except as provided in RSA 659:59, upon the closing of the polls at each additional polling place, the ballot box at such polling place shall be sealed by the assistant moderator. Such sealing shall be done in the presence of the inspectors of election and shall be certified by th…