Title LXIII, Elections

In the case of a write-in vote for a candidate whose name appears on the ballot as the nominee of a party for the same office, said write-in vote shall be counted as an additional vote for said candidate; but the said individual ballot shall be counted as only one vote for the sa…

Votes cast for the same person for the same office on the ballots of different parties at any primary election shall not be added together but shall be credited to the party on whose ballot his name appears and the vote is cast.

The final count of all votes on all ballots cast at the central and additional polling places, if any, shall be combined and the moderator shall announce the final count for each office and question.

After the tabulation of votes has been completed and the result has been announced by the moderator as provided in RSA 659:70, the town or ward clerk shall prepare the election return in the presence of the other election officials.

Prior to any state election, the secretary of state shall prepare and distribute to each town, city, or ward clerk election return forms together with such instructions as the secretary of state shall deem necessary.

I. The election return forms shall be submitted on paper and electronically immediately after the completion of the vote count in the manner prescribed by the secretary of state. The return of votes shall include, but not be limited to: (a) The name of each candidate printed on t…

The town or ward clerk shall prepare the election return in duplicate on the forms supplied by the secretary of state and shall sign and shall certify such returns.

I. One copy of the election return shall be forwarded by the town or ward clerk to the secretary of state in both paper and electronic form no later than 8:00 a.m. on the day following a state election unless the secretary of state orders them at a different time and date. The ot…

As provided in RSA 668:7, the town clerk shall prepare and forward a return of the votes cast in his town by voters of unincorporated places, if any, in the same manner as provided in RSA 659:71-75.

I. If any moderator shall intentionally neglect to cause an accurate count to be made of the votes cast as required by law, for which no other penalty is provided, he or she shall be guilty of a violation. II. If any town or ward clerk shall intentionally neglect to make any retu…

Whenever the election return of any town or ward has not been received by the secretary of state by 8:00 a.m. on the day after a state election, the secretary of state shall so notify the attorney general and the moderator, the selectmen, and the clerk of the town or ward who sha…

If a town or ward clerk shall make an incorrect or incomplete election return, the moderator may require that clerk, at his or her own expense, to appear and amend the return according to the facts within 4 hours of receipt of notification from the secretary of state. If the cler…

The hours of polling at any additional polling place shall be the same as those at the central polling place as provided in RSA 658:16.

If a town or ward clerk shall knowingly make a false election return, he shall be guilty of a class B felony.

Except as provided in RSA 659:82, when the secretary of state has received the returns for an office from all towns or wards comprising the elective district for that office, he shall examine, record and total such returns and shall declare elected to the office the same number o…

In a state representative district containing only one town or ward, the moderator of such town or ward shall declare state representatives-elect from such district.

The secretary of state shall prepare certificate of election blanks before any state general election and shall retain the appropriate blanks for his own use.

When the time for any recount or appeal to the ballot law commission or superior court has expired or when all candidates for an office whose names were placed on the official state general election ballot have waived in writing a recount and an appeal, whichever is first: I. The…

If, upon the conclusion of the canvass of votes in any state general election, any person shall have received the largest number of votes for 2 or more incompatible offices, the secretary of state shall notify the candidate of that fact. Thereupon, the candidate shall, within 10 …

Except as provided in RSA 659:87, when, for each political party having an official state primary election ballot, the secretary of state has received the returns for a nomination from all towns or wards comprising the elective district for that office, he shall examine, record a…

In a state representative district containing only one town or ward, the moderator of such town or ward shall, for each political party having an official state primary election ballot, declare nominees for the office of state representative from such district.

I. (a) A person whose name was not printed on the official state primary election ballot of a political party shall not be entitled to the nomination of that party for any office unless the person received at least 35 write-in votes or write-in votes equaling 10 percent or more o…

After the declarations required by RSA 659:86 and 659:87 have been made, the secretary of state shall: I. Send a certified list of all elected state convention delegates to each state party committee; II. Notify in writing of his nomination each person nominated by write-in vote …

It shall be the duty of the moderator to secure the observance of the provisions of the following sections relating to the conduct of voting.

The city clerk shall establish uniform practices and procedures that conform to state and federal law for the conduct of elections at all polling places within the city. The moderators and other election officials who conduct elections at the individual polling places within the …

Persons nominated by write-in vote who wish to reject the nomination shall reject their nominations as follows. A person notified in writing of his or her nomination by the secretary of state as required by RSA 659:89 shall advise the secretary of state in writing if he or she wi…

Any person who is nominated by the same political party for incompatible offices shall notify the secretary of state in person, in writing, by facsimile transmission, or by e-mailing a signed statement as an attachment no later than the Friday following the date of the primary of…

I. Any person who runs as a candidate on any party's state primary election ballot and who is not chosen as the candidate for that party for the elective office for which the person was a candidate shall not under any circumstances run as the nominee of a different party in the s…

When, for each political party having an official presidential primary election ballot, the secretary of state has received the returns for the office of president from all towns and wards in the state, he shall examine, record and total such returns, which shall be a matter of p…

I. The secretary of state shall apportion delegates to the national party conventions among the candidates voted for at the presidential primary by determining the proportion of the number of votes cast for each presidential candidate to the total votes cast for all presidential …

If a presidential candidate receives as write-in votes 10 percent or more, before any rounding to the nearest whole number, of the total votes cast for all such candidates of a political party, the secretary of state shall so notify in writing the person; and the person shall the…

I. Immediately after the ballots cast at a state election have been tabulated and the result has been announced and the return has been made, the moderator or the moderator's designee, in the presence of the selectmen or their designee, shall place the cast, cancelled, and uncast…

If a question to voters is submitted to the vote of the people on a special and separate ballot as provided in RSA 663:2, then those ballots shall be sealed and certified in a separate container as provided in RSA 659:95 except as provided in RSA 659:97.

The secretary of state shall, before any state and federal election, prepare and distribute to each town and ward clerk secure, durable, reusable, transportable, stackable and marked containers to be used for preserving ballots with locks, tamper-evident sealers and registration …

The moderator, or the moderator's designee, and the selectmen, or their designee, after they have sealed and certified the state election ballots as provided in RSA 659:95 and RSA 659:96, shall deliver the sealed containers to the town or city clerk, or to the clerk's designee, w…

If any person shall make a request for a recount as provided in RSA 660, or if the secretary of state shall request the ballots of the recent election, the clerk having the custody of such ballots shall, at the request of the secretary of state, forward the ballots forthwith to t…

Any candidate for whom a vote was cast for any office at a state general election may apply for a recount, provided that the difference between the votes cast for the applying candidate and a candidate declared elected is less than 20 percent of the total ballots cast in the town…

Upon receipt of petitions of 100 voters made no later than the fourth Friday following the date of the election, the secretary of state shall recount the ballots cast on any question to amend the constitution if the proposal was adopted or failed by no more than one percent of th…

The secretary of state shall request that all town and city clerks forward ballots containing such proposed amendment to the secretary of state forthwith, and the clerks shall immediately forward them. At the time and place so appointed, the ballots shall be counted by the secret…

The secretary of state shall recount the ballots cast on any question which may be submitted to the voters of a county at a state general election under the provisions hereinafter set forth. Application for such recount shall be by written petition signed by at least 50 legal vot…

Five legal voters of any city or town which has voted on any question other than constitutional amendments printed on the ballot at any state election as provided in RSA 663 may, no later than the second Friday after the election, petition the secretary of state for a recount of …

At the time and place so appointed, the ballots shall be counted by the secretary of state and such assistants as the secretary of state may require. The ballots shall be open to the inspection of the petitioners, the officials of the city or town, counsel, if any, of the same, a…

If after the recount it shall appear that the result of the voting on said question is other than that announced by the moderator at the election, the secretary of state shall declare said result which shall be final unless the result is changed because of an appeal taken within …

I. Upon the conclusion of every recount, the secretary of state shall replace the unprotested ballots and absentee voter envelopes in a suitable container for storage. The secretary of state shall retain the ballots and the absentee envelopes for at least 60 days following the re…

Whosoever shall knowingly violate any of the provisions of RSA 660:1-660:16 shall be guilty of a violation.

For general election recounts of state representative races, the secretary of state's office shall, after recounting the state representative race: I. Conduct an audit of the votes cast on those ballots for President, United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, …