Bill Text: NH HB1567 | 2022 | Regular Session | Amended

New Hampshire House Bill 1567 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Relative to consequences resulting from election official misconduct.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Enrolled - Dead) 2022-06-27 - Enrolled (in recess of) 05/26/2022 House Journal 14 [HB1567 Detail]

Download: New_Hampshire-2022-HB1567-Amended.html

HB 1567-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

16Mar2022... 1014h

04/28/2022 1888s

2022 SESSION

22-2486

11/05

HOUSE BILL 1567-FN

AN ACT relative to consequences resulting from election official misconduct.

SPONSORS: Rep. Alliegro, Graf. 7; Rep. Silber, Belk. 2

COMMITTEE: Election Law

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AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill allows the attorney general to seek a civil penalty against the local government entity in which an election official was found to have negligently engaged in misconduct.

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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

16Mar2022... 1014h

04/28/2022 1888s 22-2486

11/05

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Two

AN ACT relative to consequences resulting from election official misconduct.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Provisions for Purity of Elections; Official Misconduct; Consequences. Amend RSA 666:3 to read as follows:

666:3 Official Misconduct.

I. Any public officer upon whom a duty relating to elections is imposed who shall knowingly fail to perform such duty or who shall knowingly perform it in such a way as to hinder the objects thereof shall be guilty of a misdemeanor if no other penalty is provided by law.

II. The attorney general shall investigate misconduct by an election official. If an election official is convicted, the attorney general shall remove the official's right to vote in accordance with part I, article 11 of the New Hampshire constitution.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

LBA

22-2486

12/10/21

HB 1567-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

AN ACT relative to the removal of election officials from office.

FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ ] County [ ] Local [ ] None


	Estimated Increase / (Decrease)
STATE:	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025
Appropriation	$0	$0	$0	$0
Revenue	$0	$0	$0	$0
Expenditures	$0	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase
Funding Source:	[ X ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ ] Other

METHODOLOGY:

This bill creates a right of any registered voter to bring a suit in Superior Court to remove any town or city moderator, assistant moderator, school moderator, assistant school moderator, supervisor of the checklist, town or city clerk or deputy clerk, or other town or city official having duties with respect to the conduct of elections for failure to perform such official's election duties. If the court finds that removal is warranted, the prevailing registered voter shall be entitled to an award of reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs. The Judicial Branch assumes bill would result in additional cases being brought in Superior Court, with some number of those cases being appealed to the Supreme Court. These new cases would have a fiscal impact, but because the Branch cannot estimate the number of additional cases that would result if this bill passes, the fiscal impact is indeterminable. In addition, the Judicial Branch will need to reconfigure it Odyssey case management system to include the new types of complaints created by the bill. The Judicial Branch estimates it would expend approximately $5,000 to reconfigure its Odyssey case management system and e-filing portal to incorporate the new cause of action.

It is assumed that any fiscal impact would occur after FY 2022.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Judicial Branch