Bill Text: NH HB651 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relative to wrongful voting and penalties for voter fraud.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - Inexpedient to Legislate: Motion Adopted Voice Vote 01/03/2018 House Journal 1 P. 33 [HB651 Detail]

Download: New_Hampshire-2018-HB651-Introduced.html

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HB 651-FN - AS INTRODUCED

 

 

2017 SESSION

17-0536

03/08

 

HOUSE BILL 651-FN

 

AN ACT relative to wrongful voting and penalties for voter fraud.

 

SPONSORS: Rep. Bates, Rock. 7; Rep. Phinney, Straf. 24

 

COMMITTEE: Election Law

 

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ANALYSIS

 

This bill includes in the wrongful voting prohibitions the providing of false proof of age, citizenship, or domicile; or falsely stating that another person is domiciled at one's address.

 

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

17-0536

03/08

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seventeen

 

AN ACT relative to wrongful voting and penalties for voter fraud.

 

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

 

1  Wrongful Voting.  Amend RSA 659:34, I(f)-(g) to read as follows:

(f)  Gives a false name or answer if under examination as to his or her qualifications as a voter before the supervisors of the checklist or moderator; [or]

(g)  Presents falsified proof of identity, age, citizenship, or domicile at any election; or

(h)  Falsely states or provides untrue documentation that another person is domiciled at his or her address.

2  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect January 1, 2018.

 

LBAO

17-0536

1/20/17

 

HB 651-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

 

AN ACT relative to wrongful voting and penalties for voter fraud.

 

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

	Estimated Increase / (Decrease)
STATE:	FY 2018		FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021
Appropriation	$0		$0	$0	$0
Revenue	Indeterminable Increase		Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase
Expenditures	Indeterminable Increase		Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase
Funding Source:	[ X ] General            [    ] Education            [    ] Highway           [    ] Other

METHODOLOGY:

This bill contains penalties that may have an impact on the New Hampshire judicial and correctional systems.  There is no method to determine how many charges would be brought as a result of the changes contained in this bill to determine the fiscal impact on expenditures.  However, the Judicial Branch has provided the potential costs associated with these penalties below.

Judicial Branch	FY 2018	FY 2019
Class A Misdemeanor	$71	$72
Routine Civil Case                  (Civil actions)	$470	$477
Complex Equity Case      (Civil penalty up to $5,000)	$734	$740
Appeals	Varies	Varies
It should be noted average case cost estimates for FY 2018 and FY 2019 are based on data that is more than ten years old and does not reflect changes to the courts over that same period of time or the impact these changes may have on processing the various case types.

 

This bill includes additional conduct under wrongful voting prohibitions, such as providing false proof of age, citizenship or domicile or falsely stating that another person is domiciled at one' s address.  The bill does not alter the existing penalties, but expands the conduct that triggers penalties.  The Judicial Council assumes the additional conduct would constitute a class A misdemeanor.  The Council assumes the number of election law cases would be so small that the proposed changes would have no effect on Judicial Council expenditures.

 

The Department of Justice is responsible for the enforcement of election laws.  The Department states there is currently one part-time attorney devoted to election work and no investigator.  As a result, the Department has extremely minimal ability to respond to complaints of election law violations and cannot respond to all the ones it currently receives.  The Department assumes passage of the bill may result in additional complaints of election law violations that will need to be investigated, but cannot estimate the extent of that increase.  

 

There would be no impact on the Secretary of State's revenue or expenditures.

 

The New Hampshire Association of Counties determined this bill would not impact county revenue or expenditures.

 

The New Hampshire Municipal Association did not identify any impact on municipal revenues or expenditures.

 

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Judicial Branch, Judicial Council, Secretary of State, New Hampshire Municipal Association, New Hampshire Association of Counties and Department of Justice