N.H. Admin. Code § Pub 303.13 - Absentee Ballots

(a) The board shall provide an absentee ballot to any employee who meets the following requirements:

(1) The employee is included in the board's official list of eligible voters;

(2) On the date of the election, the employee is scheduled to be away from the work place or the employee's residence at the directive or convenience of the public employer, or is scheduled to be away from the work place and the employee's residence to use planned annual leave involving travel away from the residence, or is scheduled to be away from the work place and the residence due to circumstances beyond the employee's control; and

(3) It is not possible or practical for the employee to return to the work place to vote in person during those times when the polls are open given the reasons for the employee's absence.

(b) An employee who will be away from the workplace or the employee's residence on the date of the election during those times when the polls are open because the employee is not scheduled to work on the date of the election, or because the employee is not scheduled to work during the shift when the election will be held, must still vote in person during those times when the polls are open and is not eligible to vote by absentee ballot.

(c) The parties shall identify any employee who may be eligible to vote by absentee ballot during the pre-election conference. All such employees who would like to vote by absentee ballot, as well as any other employee who believes he or she should have been so identified, must file a written request with the board stating a desire to vote by absentee ballot.

(d) The employee's written request to vote by absentee ballot shall contain, as a minimum, the following information:

(1) The applicant's name;

(2) The applicant's residential mailing address;

(3) The reason the applicant is seeking to vote by absentee ballot; and

(4) The date of the request which contains this information.

(e) The board shall process requests to vote by absentee ballot by examining the request for conformity with the requirements of this rule and confirming, as necessary, information provided by the employee with the public employer.

(f) Completed absentee ballots received at the board's offices at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled starting time of the election and absentee ballots received by the board representative conducting the election within 24 hours of the scheduled starting time of the election shall be processed at the commencement of the election as follows:

(1) The board representative shall present the prepared ballot box to the election observers and provide them with the opportunity to inspect the ballot box to confirm that it is empty, secure, and is ready to receive ballots; and

(2) Before the envelopes containing absentee ballots are opened and the ballots placed in the ballot box, the board representative shall provide the election observers with the opportunity to state any objections or challenges they may have to the casting of the absentee ballot(s). If there are no objections, the board's representative shall remove each absentee ballot from the mail envelope and inside ballot envelope and place the ballot into the ballot box in a manner that preserves the anonymity of the absentee voter. If there are objections to the eligibility of a voter or to the casting of any absentee ballot, those objections shall be processed in accordance with Pub 303.08. Any objection or challenge to an absentee ballot shall be raised before the mail envelope is opened and the ballot cast into the ballot box by the board's representative at the election.

Notes

N.H. Admin. Code § Pub 303.13

#2325, eff 3-28-83; ss by #3019, eff 5-14-85; EXPIRED: 5-14-91

New. #5679, eff 8-4-93, EXPIRED: 8-4-99

New. #7093, INTERIM, eff 9-9-99, EXPIRES: 1-7-00; ss by #7187, eff 1-8-00, EXPIRED: 1-8-08

New. #9114, INTERIM, eff 3-27-08, EXPIRED: 9-23-08

New. #9441-B, eff 3-27-09

Amended by Volume XXXVII Number 41, Filed October 12, 2017, Proposed by #12378-B, Effective 9/13/2017, Expires 9/13/2027.