CHAPTER 68

HB 1222-FN – FINAL VERSION

15Feb2006… 0956h

2006 SESSION

06-2896

03/01

HOUSE BILL 1222-FN

AN ACT relative to unlawful voting.

SPONSORS: Rep. O’Neil, Rock 15

COMMITTEE: Election Law

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill makes it a class B felony to vote in more than one state at the same election or to vote more than once for any office or measure.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

15Feb2006… 0956h

06-2896

03/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Six

AN ACT relative to unlawful voting.

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

68:1 New Section; Voting in More Than One State Prohibited. Amend RSA 659 by inserting after section 34 the following new section:

659:34-a Voting in More Than One State Prohibited.

I. A person is guilty of a class B felony if, at any election, such person knowingly checks in at the checklist and casts a New Hampshire ballot on which one or more federal or statewide offices or statewide questions are listed if the person also casts a ballot in the same election year in any election held in any other state or territory of the United States where one or more federal or statewide offices or statewide questions are listed. For federal or statewide offices and statewide questions, neither the candidates nor the questions need be the same in both jurisdictions for a violation to occur. The titles for offices need not be identical, but must serve an equivalent role in government, for a violation to occur.

II. Two or more elections occur with the same election year if:

(a) The election for federal or statewide office or on a question being voted on statewide in another state or territory is held on the same day that New Hampshire holds its general election; or

(b) The term of office for any office listed on the ballot in the other state or territory starts in the same year as the term of office for that office or its equivalent in New Hampshire.

III. The state shall not be required to prove that the person actually marked the ballot for a candidate for any specific office; it shall be sufficient to prove that the person cast a ballot. Evidence that a person was checked off on the checklist, or the equivalent record in another state or territory, as having voted is prima facie evidence that the person cast a ballot in that election.

IV. If the election in New Hampshire and the other state or territory are held on different dates, it is an affirmative defense that the person legitimately moved his or her domicile to or from the other state or territory between the dates when the elections were held.

68:2 Wrongful Voting; Penalties for Voter Fraud. Amend RSA 659:34, II to read as follows:

II. A person is guilty of a class B felony if, at any election, such person purposefully or knowingly commits an act specified in subparagraph I(b). A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if, at any election, such person purposefully or knowingly commits any of the other acts listed in paragraph I.

68:3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect September 1, 2006.

Approved: April 25, 2006

Effective: September 1, 2006