VOTING FAQs

The disability excuse to vote absentee no longer expressly includes COVID-19. The Secretary of State advises that “a person can register and vote absentee if, based on their own health circumstances, medical authorities advise them to avoid going out in public. This applies to:

- voters with symptoms of a communicable disease or illness;

- voters who, due to their own health circumstances, limit public exposure in their day-to-day life as a preventive measure.”

Under New Hampshire law, you can vote absentee for any of the following reasons:

• Plan to be absent from your city or town on the day of the election

• Religious observance

• Employment obligation (including caretaking of children or infirm adults)

• Disability

Visit voteinnh.org/absentee for a step by step guide on how to vote absentee.

You can vote absentee in person at your clerk’s office. You can request an absentee ballot in person at your clerk’s office and fill out your ballot right then and there.

Call your clerk to confirm that the ballots are available and when they are open. You can find contact information for your local clerk here.

You can also drop off your completed ballot at your clerk’s office during business hours.

If you are unable to return your own absentee ballot, a “delivery agent” may deliver your absentee ballot for you. The following people are considered to be a delivery agent:

• The voter’s spouse, parent, sibling, child, grandchild, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, stepparent or stepchild;

• Licensed nursing home administrator or a nursing home staff member designated in writing by the administrator to deliver ballots;

• The residential care facility administrator, or residential care facility staff member designated in writing by the administrator to deliver ballots;

• The person* assisting a blind voter or a voter with a disability who has signed a statement on the affidavit envelope acknowledging assistance. (*This person cannot deliver more than 4 absentee ballots.)

A family member or other delivery agent will need to show identification and sign a form when they deliver the ballot.

Yes. If you want to vote in person after requesting an absentee ballot, you may go to your polling place on Election Day to vote. You should not cast your absentee ballot and should destroy it.

You can find your ward by using there polling place location tool here. Your polling place will include the ward number if your municipality has wards. If your municipality does not have wards, no ward number will show up. If that is the case, you can leave that line blank on your absentee ballot request.

There is no deadline for submitting an absentee ballot application, but we recommend submitting it as soon as possible to allow plenty of time for your application to be received and your ballot to be sent.

Remember - your absentee ballot must be received by 5 PM on Election Day if being mailed OR 5 PM the day prior to Election Day if delivered in person.

If you mail your ballot or have a delivery agent hand deliver it for you, your completed absentee ballot must be received by 5 PM on Election Day. If YOU hand deliver your own ballot, it must be returned to your clerk's office by 5 PM the day PRIOR to Election Day.

Typically the ballots are sent to the clerks 30 days before an election and then the clerk processes them and sends them out. Once you’ve requested your ballot, you can track your absentee ballot request here.

You can track your ballot here: https://www.voteinnh.org/votetracker

• A single first-class stamp will suffice if you are mailing a ballot that is one piece of paper, postage costs 55 cents.

• If your ballot is more than one piece of paper or if you are sending registration materials, you should use two stamps.

• However, if you forget a stamp or if your postage is insufficient, the USPS will deliver your ballot to your clerk. This is the USPS’s official and longstanding policy