Bullies at the Ballot Box - Demos

aSSeSSment:
are VoterS ProteCted?
ProCedureS For makIng and
determInIng ValIdIty oF ChallengeS
legal BaSIS For ChallengIng
a Voter’S elIgIBIlIty
Who Can Challenge
on eleCtIon day?
State
SatISFaCtory
New Hampshire has exemplary
requirements that challenges be made
in writing under oath. It is very good
that challenged voters can vote as
long as they submit an affidavit affirming
their qualifications. This is
very protective of voters and allows
eligible voters to ensure their vote is
counted.
New Hampshire could improve its
laws by adopting a penalty for frivolous
challenges and requiring that
they be made on the basis of personal
knowledge.
All challenges, whether from designated challengers,
officials, or members of the public,
must be signed, under oath, and submitted in
writing to a moderator.
N.H. REV. STAT. §§ 659:27; 659:27-a
No voter or designated challenger is permitted
to challenge a person’s qualifications to be
a voter at the Election Day voter registration
table.
N.H. REV. STAT. §§ 659:27
The moderator must determine if the challenge
is well grounded. If the moderator determines
the challenge is well grounded, the moderator
must reject the vote of the person challenged
unless the voter submits an affidavit affirming
his or her identity and qualifications under
penalty of voter fraud. If the moderator determines
that the challenge is not well grounded,
the moderator must permit the voter to proceed
to vote.
N.H. REV. STAT. §§ 659:27; 659:30; 659:31
Grounds for challenging a voter
include the following: the person
seeking to vote is not the individual
whose name he or she has given;
the person has already voted in the
election; the person seeking to vote is
disqualified for violating the elections
laws; the person is under 18 years of
age; the person seeking to vote is not
a United States Citizen; the person
seeking to vote is not domiciled in
the town or ward where he or she is
seeking to vote; the person seeking
to vote does not reside at his or
her listed address; the person is an
incarcerated convicted felon who is
currently sentenced to incarceration;
the person is not a declared member
of the party he or she claims to be affiliated
with (in a primary only); the
person is ineligible to vote because
of a state or federal law or constitutional
provision.
N.H. REV. STAT. § 659:27-a
neW hamPShIre A registered voter in the
town or ward in which the
election is held, an election
official, or a challenger
designated by the attorney
general or a political party
state, city, or town committee.
N.H. REV. STAT.
§§ 659:27; 666:4
40 • aPPendIx 2 | State Laws Governing Election Day Challenges