Concord, NH – Secretary of State David M. Scanlan and Attorney General John M. Formella remind voters that October 6, 2023, is the deadline to change party affiliation before voting in the 2024 Presidential Primary Election.
Local Election Officials report that during Primary Elections some voters who are registered as affiliated with one political party seek to vote on the ballot of a different political party. New Hampshire law does not permit this. Only undeclared voters may choose to vote in either primary election. Otherwise, voters are only eligible to vote in the primary election for that political party in which they are affiliated.
Voters are affiliated with a political party when they declare an affiliation when registering to vote or when, as an undeclared voter, they vote in a political party’s primary. Unless the voter changes his or her political party affiliation after voting and before the next primary, the voter is limited by law to voting on the ballot of the political party he or she is affiliated with.
The deadline to change affiliation before the Presidential Primary is October 6, 2023. The Special Notice below provides further information.
SPECIAL NOTICE
October 6, 2023, is the deadline for changing your political party affiliation before the 2024 Presidential Primary Election.
The Secretary of State will announce the date of the New Hampshire Presidential Primary this fall. Voters at a Primary Election vote by official ballot to nominate their party’s candidates for federal, state, and county offices. Republicans also elect delegates to the state party convention.
At a Primary Election a voter may only vote in one party’s primary. A voter who is registered as affiliated with a specific party may only vote on that party’s ballot at the Primary Election. A Voter is registered as affiliated with a political party if:
- He or she indicates they are affiliated with that party on the voter registration form when registering to vote and have not changed party affiliation; or
- He or she, if previously registered with no party affiliation (undeclared), chooses to vote in a state or presidential primary and then does not change his or her registration back to undeclared.
An undeclared voter may vote in a party primary by choosing that party at the polling place. Only voters who enter the polling place as undeclared on Primary Election day may choose to change back to undeclared at the polling place after voting on Primary day. Voters who are affiliated with a party may change affiliation or change to undeclared on or before October 6, 2023, or after the State Primary Election day. Voters who are affiliated with a party cannot change affiliation between October 7, 2023, and Primary Election Day.
Voters should verify that they are either registered as affiliated with the political party in whose primary they plan to vote or that they are registered as undeclared.
You can verify your voter registration through the Secretary of State’s Voter Information Look-up website: Voter Information (nh.gov).
It is important to verify your current voter registration status. At each Primary Election, voters seek to vote on the ballot of a party other than the party they are affiliated with and the law does not permit them to do so. Many of these voters were at one time registered as undeclared, voted in a state or presidential primary which affiliates the voter with the political party whose ballot they chose, and the voter did not change back to being undeclared.
If you would like to change your party affiliation you may:
- Complete a change of party affiliation form at your town or city Clerk’s office no later than October 6, 2023 (RSA 654:34-a); or
- Attend the session of the Supervisors of the Checklist for your town on Friday October 6, 2023, between 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and change your affiliation with the Supervisors. RSA 654:32. RSA 654:34.
If you are registered as affiliated with a political party:
- You will not be able to change your affiliation and vote on primary election day; or
- Vote on the primary ballot of a different political party.
