The following details are meant to help end confusion over absentee ballot requests sent by the NH GOP Aug. 20 and voting in general in Tuesday’s primary election.
Associate Attorney General Anne Edwards provided some of the following information along with details from the Secretary of State’s Office’s website.
Edwards has been monitoring the response from the NH GOP to Attorney General Gordon MacDonald’s cease and desist order over unlawful mailers the NH GOP sent that may have confused voters.
Edwards received an update Friday about what the NH GOP is doing to rectify the situation. That included a newspaper warning ad that the NH GOP ran in the Union Leader. See photo above.
The update said to the extent the NH GOP had phone numbers for affected voters, they made phone calls to those voters. Some affected voters requested in-person deliveries of their absentee ballot applications, and NH GOP field staff are beginning those deliveries. There will be further updates from the NH GOP next week.
What should voters do if they mailed in an absentee ballot request and didn’t yet receive one?
Edwards: The answer to that question applies to anyone who mailed in an absentee ballot request and may not have received a ballot yet. That is an issue that happens at every election as some voters do not mail in their absentee ballot requests with enough time for their clerks to process them and for the US Postal Service to deliver them.
If an absentee ballot is not received in Saturday’s mail or by Tuesday morning, the primary election day, the voter should go to the polling place on Election Day and vote using the accessible voting process. This voting process will occur outside of the polling place using the absentee voting process.
Information about accessible voting from the NH Secretary of State’s Office: https://sos.nh.gov/elections/voters/register-to-vote/absentee/accessible-voting/
Polling Places Will Be Open
From Secretary of State’s website:
Polling places will be open for those who wish to vote in person on
election day. Precautions are being made to keep voters and poll
workers safe. Personal protective equipment including masks, face
shields, plastic table-top screens, gowns, gloves, hand sanitizer, single
use pens and pencils, and writing mats for voting surfaces will be
provided in the polling place. Social distancing will be practiced along
with sanitation measures recommended by public health officials.
Contact your city or town clerk or moderator for more information.
Same-Day Voter Registration:
From the Secretary of State’s website: https://sos.nh.gov/elections/voters/register-to-vote/
Register to Vote
Registering to Vote in New Hampshire is easy! Register to vote at your town hall before the deadline or register to vote the day of the election at the polling place. No matter when or where you decide to register, you will be required to complete a Voter Registration form. New Hampshire inhabitants who will be 18 years of age or older on the day of the next election, and a United States citizen. There is no minimum period of time you are required to have lived in the state before being allowed to register.You may register as soon as you move into your new community.
Election Officials With Accurate Election Information
Secretary of State’s Website: http://sos.nh.gov
@NHSecretary NH Secretary of State
State of New Hampshire Elections Amazon Alexa Skill
NH Secretary of State’s Elections Hotline: 1-833-726-0034
Attorney General’s Toll-Free Election Line: 1-800-735-2964
City/Town Clerk Lookup: https://app.sos.nh.gov/Public/ClerkDetails.aspx
