SB 418-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

03/31/2022   1096s

21Apr2022... 1487h

2022 SESSION

22-3015

11/04

SENATE BILL 418-FN

AN ACT relative to verification of voter affidavits.

SPONSORS: Sen. Giuda, Dist 2; Sen. Bradley, Dist 3; Sen. French, Dist 7; Sen. Gannon, Dist 23; Rep. Howard, Belk. 8

COMMITTEE: Election Law and Municipal Affairs

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ANALYSIS

This bill provides for verification of voter affidavits by establishing affidavit balloting.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03/31/2022   1096s

21Apr2022... 1487h 22-3015

11/04

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Two

AN ACT relative to verification of voter affidavits.

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

1  Findings.

I.  According to the secretary of state, over the past 45 years, New Hampshire has had 44 state elections that ended in a tie or in a one-vote victory.  On average, that is almost once per year, not including the 1974 U.S. Senate race that was won by 2 votes - the closest U.S. Senate race in history.  This clearly proves that just one improperly cast vote can adversely influence an election each year.  Every improperly cast vote invalidates one legal vote.  In the 2016 general election, at least 10 illegal ballots were cast by voters who admitted guilt and were prosecuted by the attorney general and counted, including one woman who was caught voting in both Massachusetts and in Plymouth, New Hampshire.  She only paid a $500 fine; hardly a deterrent.  In that same election, the attorney general's office, after extensive investigation, was unable to verify the identity of 230 qualified and domicile affidavit voters.  Allowing unverified votes to count in an election enables the corruption of New Hampshire's electoral process.  This must be addressed immediately to restore the integrity of New Hampshire elections.

II.  Currently, New Hampshire law allows for votes to be cast and counted by signing an affidavit, even when the voter fails to produce documents to prove his or her identity, or that he or she is a New Hampshire citizen or an inhabitant of that town, city, ward, or district.  Although these laws do allow for the post-election investigation of these unverified ballots, this merely identifies when unqualified votes have been cast.  It does nothing to prevent the nullification of legitimate votes by the casting, counting, and certification of illegitimate ballots.

2  New Section; Election Procedure; Affidavit Ballot.  Amend RSA 659 by inserting after section 23 the following new section:

659:23-a  Affidavit Ballots.  

I.  For all elections, if a voter on election day is registering to vote for the first time in New Hampshire and does not have a valid photo identification establishing such voter's identification, or does not meet the identity requirements of RSA 659:13, then such voter shall vote by affidavit ballot pursuant to this section.

II.  The authorized election official shall hand the affidavit ballot voter an affidavit voter package and explain its use.  The affidavit voter package shall be designed, produced, and distributed by the secretary of state, and shall contain the following:

(a)  A prepaid U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail Express (overnight delivery) envelope addressed to the secretary of state for the affidavit voter to return the affidavit verification letter described in subparagraph (b) and any required missing documentation that necessitated voting by affidavit ballot.  The return address on this envelope shall be for the office of the secretary of state.

(b)  An affidavit voter verification letter, in duplicate form, which lists all the documents required to qualify to vote in the state of New Hampshire.  The authorized election official shall mark on both copies of the verification letter which qualifying documents were not provided, thereby necessitating voting by affidavit ballot.  One copy of the affidavit verification letter shall be given to the voter; the other copy shall be retained by the authorized election official.  The voter shall be required to return their copy of the affidavit verification letter and a copy of any required documentation to the secretary of state in the provided prepaid U.S. Postal Service envelope within 10 days of the date of the election in order for the ballot to be certified.

III.  The moderator shall mark each affidavit ballot “Affidavit Ballot #___” sequentially, starting with the number “1”.

IV.  All affidavit ballots shall be cast in person at the polling place, placed in a container designated “Affidavit Ballots,” and hand counted after polls have closed using a method prescribed by the secretary of state for hand counting and confirmation of candidate vote totals.  After completion of counting, the moderator shall note and announce the total number of votes cast for each candidate, and the total number of affidavit ballots cast in the election.  No later than one day after the election, the moderator shall forward all affidavit ballot verification letters to the secretary of state using a secure means of transmission or delivery.

V.  On the seventh day after the election, if an affidavit ballot voter has failed to return the verification letter with the missing voter qualifying documentation to the secretary of state, either in person or using the prepaid U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail Express Envelope, the secretary of state shall instruct the moderator of the town, city, ward, or district in which the affidavit ballot was cast to retrieve the associated numbered affidavit ballot and list on a tally sheet, by candidate or issue, the votes cast on that ballot.  The counting of votes on affidavit ballots identified by the secretary of state as unqualified shall be conducted by the town, city, ward, or district using the same methods of counting and observation utilized on the day of the election for hand counted ballots.  The votes cast on such unqualified affidavit ballots shall be deducted from the vote total for each affected candidate or each affected issue.

VI.  No later than 14 days after the election, any town, city, ward, or district in which any affidavit ballots were cast, and not subsequently verified, shall provide to the secretary of state a summary report, by race or ballot issue, of the total votes cast by the unqualified voters.  The total vote minus the unqualified affidavit ballot vote for each race or issue shall be the final vote to be certified by the appropriate certifying authority.

VII.  The names of affidavit voters whose verification letters are either not returned to the secretary of state or which do not provide the required voter qualifying information shall be referred by the secretary of state to the New Hampshire attorney general’s office for investigation in accordance with RSA 7:6-c.

VIII.  Any written, electronic, or other information related to an affidavit voter who provides the required information verifying their right to vote shall not be subject to disclosure under RSA 91-A or any other law.

IX.  All written documentation relating to affidavit ballots shall be delivered to the secretary of state by local election officials in sealed packages using a secure means of transportation and stored pursuant to RSA 659:95 through 659:103.

3  New Section; General Provisions for Recounts; Affidavit Ballots.  Amend RSA 660 by inserting after section 17 the following new section:

660:17-a  Affidavit Ballots; Recounts.  In any election or referendum, if the total number of affidavit ballots submitted for any local, district, county, or statewide race or issue would, if counted in favor of either candidate or position, alter the outcome of the election, the deadlines for filing recount requests imposed by RSA 660:1, 660:7, 660:10, 660:12, and 660:13 shall be extended until after the deadline for submitting affidavit verification materials in RSA 659:23-a.  In such instance, the secretary of state shall publish new deadlines for filing recounts.

4  Election Procedure; Obtaining a Ballot.  Amend RSA 659:13, I(c) to read as follows:

(c)(1)  If the voter does not have a valid photo identification, the ballot clerk shall direct the voter to see the supervisor of the checklist.

(2)  The supervisor of the checklist shall review the voter's qualifications and determine if the voter's identity can be verified.

(3) If the supervisor of the checklist cannot verify the voter's identity, the supervisor of the checklist shall inform the voter that he or she may execute a challenged voter affidavit and cast an affidavit ballot in accordance with RSA 659:23-a.  The voter shall receive an explanatory document prepared by the secretary of state explaining the proof of identity requirements.  If the voter executes a challenged voter affidavit and casts an affidavit ballot, the ballot clerk shall mark the checklist in accordance with uniform procedures developed by the secretary of state.

[(2)] (4) If the voter executes a challenged voter affidavit and casts an affidavit ballot, the moderator or the moderator's designee shall take a photograph of the voter and immediately print and attach the photograph to[, and thus make it a part of, the affidavit form.  However, if a photograph was taken under RSA 654:12, then a notation shall be made on the challenged voter affidavit stating that the photograph is attached to the qualified voter affidavit or sworn statement on the general election day registration form] the duplicate copy of the affidavit voter verification letter to be delivered to the secretary of state.  The photograph shall be 2 inches by 2 inches, or larger, and may be in color or in black and white.  The moderator or his or her designee who took the photograph and the voter shall then sign the challenged voter affidavit.  The moderator or designee shall delete the photograph from the camera in the presence of the voter.  If the moderator or his or her designee is unable to take the voter's photograph due to equipment failure or other cause beyond the moderator's or his or her designee's reasonable control, the voter may execute a challenged voter affidavit and cast an affidavit ballot without a photograph.

[(3)] (5)  If the voter objects to the photograph requirement because of religious beliefs, he or she may execute an affidavit of religious exemption in accordance with RSA 659:13-b, which shall be attested to by an election officer and attached to the challenged voter affidavit.

[(4)] (6)  The person entering voter information into the centralized voter registration database shall cause the records to indicate when a voter has not presented a valid photo identification and has executed a challenged voter affidavit and cast an affidavit ballot.

5  Voting Procedure; Obtaining a Ballot.  Amend RSA 659:13, II(b) to read as follows:

(b)  In addition to the forms of photo identification authorized in subparagraph (a), the identification requirements of paragraph I may be satisfied by verification of the person's identity by a moderator or supervisor of the checklist or the clerk of a town, ward, or city, provided that if any person authorized to challenge a voter under RSA 659:27 objects to such verification, identifies the reason for the objection in writing, and states the specific source of the information or personal knowledge upon which the challenge of the photo identification is based, the voter shall be required to execute a challenged voter affidavit as if no verification was made.  When an election official uses personal recognizance as a substitute for required documentation under this section, the moderator or clerk shall print in the margin of the checklist, next to the name of the voter so qualified, one of the following to identify the official who validated the voter:  “P-x-AB” where “P” indicates personal recognizance; “x” shall be “M” for moderator or “C” for clerk; and AB are the first and last initials of the moderator or clerk.  By initialing the checklist, the moderator or clerk personally affirms, under penalty of perjury, the identity of the voter they are qualifying to vote.

6  New Subparagraphs; Voting Procedure; Obtaining a Ballot.  Amend RSA 659:13, II by inserting after subparagraph (c) the following new subparagraphs:

(d)  The secretary of state shall provide training for supervisors of the checklist on how the nonpublic data in the statewide centralized voter registration database may be used to satisfy voter identification requirements.

(e) The secretary of state shall develop and make available an informational pamphlet explaining the procedure established in RSA 260:21 for obtaining a picture identification card for voter identification purposes only.

7  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect January 1, 2023.

LBA

22-3015

Amended 4/12/22

SB 418-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS AMENDED BY TH SENATE (AMENDMENT #2022-1096s)

AN ACT relative to verification of voter affidavits.

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

METHODOLOGY:

This bill establishes affidavit balloting for voters who are not registered on the checklist or who do not have a valid photo identification.  The affidavit balloting would include a serial numbered ballot to be used for voting at the municipality.  The voter would also receive a voter packet containing  a USPS Priority Mail Express (overnight delivery) envelope and an affidavit voter verification letter, in duplicate form.  The voter is to leave one copy of the verification letter with the authorized election official and return their affidavit verification letter with required documentation, in the provided envelope, within 10 days of the election to the Secretary of State's Office.  If an affidavit voter fails to send the required documentation to the Secretary of State within 10 days, the Secretary of State would notify local election officials, who would retrieve the voter's ballot and deduct it from the election totals and votes contained on the ballot.

The Department of State indicates there would an increase expense to the General Fund in FY 2023 and FY 2025 of $235,000 and $450,000 respectively.  The Department assumed they would need 12,000 packets, accounting for both the primary and general elections to ensure a sufficient amount of packets at each polling locations.  The cost of the preparation of the packets is estimated to be $5 per packet equating to $60,000.  The Department assumes in FY 2023 there will be the same amount of voters using the affidavit process as the November 2020 election (4,244) and an additional 50% for the primary (2,122).  The postage for each returned envelope is $26.95.  Multiplying the 6,366 voters by the postage cost rounds to an estimated $170,000 for postage cost.  The Department also would incur $3,000 in overtime pay.  The Department assumes in FY 2025, because it is a presidential year, the expenses will be doubled.  

The New Hampshire Municipal Association (NHMA) states there would be an indeterminable fiscal impact on local expenditures.  The NHMA states they could incur additional expenditures to instruct voters on the affidavit ballot and sending of documentation to the Secretary of State, hand counting all affidavit ballots and taking the additional action on the ballots after election day.  The expenditures will vary depending on the municipality.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Department of State and New Hampshire Municipal Association