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Explanation:
Matter added to current law appears in bold
italics.
Matter
removed from current law appears [in brackets
and struckthrough.]
Matter
which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and
reenacted appears in regular type.
12Feb2009… 0129h
04/22/09 1381s
06May2009… 1481eba
09-0433
03/04
STATE OF
NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the
Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine
AN ACT relative to voting
machines for the counting of ballots.
Be it
Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in
General Court convened:
70:1 Electronic Ballot
Counting Devices. Amend the subdivision heading
preceding RSA 656:40 to read as follows:
[Voting
Machines] Electronic Ballot Counting
Devices
70:2 Electronic Ballot
Counting Devices; Adoption and Approval. Amend RSA 656:40 and RSA 656:41 to read as follows:
656:40 Adoption. The
mayor and aldermen of any city or the selectmen of any
town, subject to the approval of the ballot law
commission, may authorize the use of one or more [voting
machines or] electronic ballot
counting devices for [computerized
casting and] the counting of
ballots in such city or town on a trial basis for any
regular or special election and pay the expense of such
trial from any available funds. The use of such [machines
or] devices so authorized shall be valid for
all purposes. Any town, or the mayor and aldermen of any
city, may vote to lease or purchase [voting
machines or] electronic ballot
counting devices for the elections held in
said town or city. Any town, or the mayor and aldermen
of any city, so acting shall notify the secretary of
state of the action taken in regard to [voting
machines or] electronic ballot
counting devices; and, after said action, [voting
machines or] electronic ballot
counting devices shall be used in said town
or city in accordance with said vote or authorization. [Notwithstanding
any vote of adoption of voting machines, the mayor and
aldermen of any city or the selectmen of any town may
petition the ballot law commission to allow the use of
paper ballots in any one or more elections.]
656:41 Approval by Ballot
Law Commission. The ballot law commission shall act as a
board to examine [voting machines and]
devices for [computerized casting and]
the electronic counting of ballots. The
commission shall, whenever requested, examine any [voting
machine or] device which may be capable of
meeting the requirements for elections held in this
state. The commission shall approve such [voting
machine or] device in its discretion, and no
[voting machine or] device shall be
used in any election in this state unless it reads the
voter's choice on a paper ballot and is of a type so
approved by the ballot law commission. Any [voting
machine or] device that is altered must be
re-approved before it is used in any election in this
state. For the purposes of this section, a [machine]
device shall be considered altered if any
mechanical or electronic part, hardware, software, or
programming has been altered.
70:3 Electronic Ballot
Counting Devices. Amend RSA 656:42, I-V to read as
follows:
I. The ballot law
commission shall make such rules as may be necessary to
ensure the accuracy of [voting machines or]
electronic ballot counting devices,
including rules for the testing of [voting
machines or] electronic ballot
counting devices prior to each election and
the submission of testing records to the secretary of
state. The ballot law commission shall make such rules
as may be necessary in order that [voting
machines or] electronic ballot
counting devices [for computerized
casting and counting of ballots] may be used
in this state in such a manner that the election laws
may be complied with as far as possible. Said commission
shall have the power and authority in making rules to
declare certain laws relative to distribution and
marking of ballots and other requirements inconsistent
with the use of [voting machines or] electronic
ballot counting devices ineffective in towns
and cities adopting such a method of voting. The
presiding officer at each polling place shall enforce
the rules of the ballot law commission made under the
authority of this section.
II. Consistent with the
rules of the ballot law commission the secretary of
state shall include protocols for the testing of [voting machines] electronic ballot counting devices in the election manual
authorized by RSA 652:22. Each [machine] device shall be tested after
installation and prior to each election.
III. Any company,
partnership, proprietorship, or other person, wherever
located, which supplies, maintains, or programs [voting
machines] electronic ballot counting
devices which are used in elections in New
Hampshire is subject to regulation by this state.
IV. Each person described
in paragraph III shall designate, in writing, an agent
for service of all process, including, but not limited
to summonses, writs, orders, petitions, and subpoenas,
and shall agree in writing that the attorney general, in
conjunction with any election investigation, may inspect
its records, machines or other devices, and premises.
V. Any such person
described in paragraph III who fails to properly program
and test [voting machines] electronic
ballot counting devices shall be liable to
reimburse the state for the cost of any recount which is
necessitated by such failure.
70:4 Electronic Ballot
Counting Devices. Amend RSA 656:43 to read as follows:
656:43 Lease or Purchase.
Any town or city authorizing the use of [a
voting machine or a] an electronic
ballot counting device for [computerized
casting and] the counting of
ballots shall pay the cost of lease or purchase. When
such a [machine or] device is purchased
by a town or city, the person from whom such [machine]
device is purchased shall give to the
secretary of state a suitable bond with sufficient
sureties to keep such [machine] device
in good working order for not less than 2 years at the
seller's own expense.
70:5 Electronic Ballot
Counting Devices. Amend RSA 659:23, II to read as follows:
II. The provisions of
paragraph I shall not apply in cities and towns which
use one or more [voting machines or] electronic ballot counting devices for [computerized casting and] the counting of ballots, as
provided in RSA 656:40.
70:6 Electronic Ballot
Counting Devices. Amend RSA 659:42 to read as follows:
659:42 Tampering With [Voting
Machines] Electronic Ballot Counting
Devices. Whoever shall tamper with or injure
or attempt to injure any [voting machine or]
electronic ballot counting device for the
[computerized casting and] counting of
ballots to be used or being used in an election or
whoever shall prevent or attempt to prevent the correct
operation of such [machine or] device
or whoever shall tamper with software used in the [casting
or] counting of ballots or design such
software so as to cause incorrect tabulation of the
ballots or any unauthorized person who shall make or
have in his or her possession a key to [a voting
machine] an electronic ballot counting
device to be used or being used in an
election shall be guilty of a class B felony if a
natural person or guilty of a felony if any other
person.
70:7 Repeal. RSA 656:43-a, relative to voting
machine replacement, is repealed.
70:8 Effective Date. This
act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
Approved: June 9, 2009
Effective Date: August 8,
2009<
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[February
6,
2009] The hearing was on the first day my committee met,
on
January 21, 2009. About a dozen or so people showed up for the
hearing, even though I didn't do that much to publicize it aside
from
putting up this web page and doing some networking online.
I
discovered long before the hearing that there weren't really any
open-source voting solutions available, so if my
bill passed in its
original form, we would have to count all our ballots by hand.
This
would be fine by me, but not by the Secretary of State's office.