HB 498-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2025 SESSION
25-0484
07/08
HOUSE BILL 498-FN
AN ACT relative to when a person may receive an absentee ballot.
SPONSORS: Rep. Potenza, Straf. 19
COMMITTEE: Election Law
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ANALYSIS
This bill requires that absentee ballots applications be distributed no sooner than 45 days prior to an election.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
25-0484
07/08
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Five
AN ACT relative to when a person may receive an absentee ballot.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Elections; Absentee Voting; Forwarding Forms. Amend RSA 657:5 to read as follows:
657:5 Forwarding Forms. The secretary of state shall retain for his own use so many application forms for absentee ballots as he may deem necessary and shall supply each town and city clerk in the state with so many of them as he may deem sufficient. The secretary shall not send absentee ballot applications to city or town clerks prior to 45 days before an election. The secretary of state shall keep a record of the date when and the manner in which the absentee ballot applications were sent to said clerks and of the number of absentee ballot applications so forwarded.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
25-0484
Revised 1/20/25
HB 498-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT relative to when a person may receive an absentee ballot.
FISCAL IMPACT: This bill does not provide funding, nor does it authorize new positions.
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Estimated State Impact | ||||||
| FY 2025 | FY 2026 | FY 2027 | FY 2028 | ||
Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Revenue Fund(s) | None | |||||
Expenditures* | $0 | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | ||
Funding Source(s) | General Fund | |||||
Appropriations* | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Funding Source(s) | None | |||||
*Expenditure = Cost of bill *Appropriation = Authorized funding to cover cost of bill | ||||||
METHODOLOGY:
This bill requires that absentee ballots applications be distributed no sooner than 45 days prior to an election by the Secretary of State.
The Department of State requires additional information to assess the fiscal impact. Presently, absentee ballots are available for download on the Secretary of State's website for voters or clerks to distribute at town offices. The Department is uncertain whether the legislative intent is to eliminate online applications and introduce a serial numbered paper system, making the expenditures indeterminable.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of State