New Hampshire SB 222: relative to moving the state primary date.

Bill Text

SB 222 - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

03/27/2025 1119s

2025 SESSION

 25-0423

 08/06

SENATE BILL 222

AN ACT relative to moving the state primary date.

SPONSORS: Sen. Lang, Dist 2; Sen. Pearl, Dist 17; Sen. Sullivan, Dist 18; Sen. Innis, Dist 7; Sen. Avard, Dist 12; Sen. McGough, Dist 11; Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. Ward, Dist 8; Sen. Ricciardi, Dist 9; Sen. Perkins Kwoka, Dist 21

COMMITTEE: Election Law and Municipal Affairs

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ANALYSIS

 This bill moves the state primary date to June.

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 Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03/27/2025 1119s 25-0423

 08/06

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Five

AN ACT relative to moving the state primary date.

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

 1 Election of Officers and Delegates; Election Dates; State Primary Election. Amend RSA 653:8 to read as follows:

 653:8 State Primary Election. The state primary election shall be held on the second Tuesday in [September] June of every even-numbered year.

 2 Voters and Checklists; Hearings on Alterations to Party Registration. Amend RSA 654:32 to read as follows:

 654:32 Hearings on Alterations to Party Registration. Before each state or presidential primary election, the supervisors of the checklist shall be in session before each primary for the change of registration of legal voters as provided in RSA 654:34 or 654:34-a or both. Before the presidential primary, the session shall be on the Friday preceding the first day of the filing period, between 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and at the discretion of the supervisors for extended hours. Before the state primary election, the session shall be on Tuesday before the first Wednesday in [June] March between 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and at the discretion of the supervisors for extended hours. 

 3 Voters and Checklists; Change of Registration. Amend RSA 654:34, IV to read as follows:

 IV. No person, who is already registered to vote, whether his or her party membership has been previously registered or not, shall affiliate with a party or disaffiliate from a party between the first Wednesday in [June] March and the day before the state primary election.

 4 Elections; Nominations by Primary; Filing: General Provisions. Amend RSA 655:14 to read as follows:

 655:14 Filing; General Provisions. The name of any person shall not be printed upon the ballot of any party for a primary unless he or she is a registered member of that party, he or she shall have met the age and domicile qualifications for the office he or she seeks at the time of the general election, he or she meets all the other qualifications at the time of filing, and he or she shall file with the appropriate official between the first Wednesday in [June] March and the Friday of the following week a declaration of candidacy as provided in RSA 655:17.

 5 Elections; Nominations by Primary. Amend RSA 655:21 to read as follows:

 655:21 Form. Primary petitions shall be made in the following form: 

 State of New Hampshire 

County of ____________________ ss. 

City (Town) of ____________________ 

 I do hereby join in a petition for the printing on the primary ballot of the name of ____________________ whose domicile is in the city (town) of ______________ (ward, street, and number, if in a city), in the county of __________, for the office of ______________ to be voted for on Tuesday, the _____ day of [September] June, _____ (year), and certify that I am qualified to vote for a candidate for said office, that I am a registered member of the _____________ party, and am not at this time a signer of any other similar petition for any other candidate for the above office; that my domicile is in the city (town) of _____________ (ward, street, and number, if in a city), in the county of _____________. I certify that to my knowledge the above-named candidate is not a candidate for incompatible offices as defined in RSA 655:10, and that he or she is not a federal employee which makes him or her ineligible to file as a candidate for this office. I further certify that I believe the above-named person is especially qualified to fill said office. 

 I hereby swear, under the penalties for voting fraud set forth below, that the information above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. 

_________________________________

Print Voter's name

 ______________________________ 

Voter's Signature

 In accordance with RSA 659:34, the penalty for knowingly or purposefully providing false information when registering to vote or voting i