Conference panel asks Secretary of State to draft reregistration form for voters removed from rolls

A legislative committee of conference on Thursday directed language be added to a house-amended bill to require the New Hampshire Secretary of State to develop a short reregistration form for voters removed from the voter checklist.

Committee chair said the addition would instruct the Secretary of State to “develop the forms necessary for registration of a voter removed from the list by the procedure above.” The committee recorded a small majority in favor and the House later accepted the proposal.

Why it matters: The change is intended to speed the process for people who are removed from the checklist to re-register and to reduce friction at polling places following a purge. Supporters said a short form could limit the time moderators spend re-registering voters on election day.

During the meeting, Senator Parker urged holding the Senate position on the broader bill, saying additional roll-cleanup or new absentee restrictions could combine to deny eligible voters access to the ballot. “When voter rolls are purged unnecessarily often, it results in people being denied the right to vote,” Parker said, noting concerns raised after last year’s legislation and changes to absentee voting.

Chairman described the change as “reasonable” and said the committee would add a paragraph (Grammar 7) to the house version directing the Secretary of State to prepare the form; he said the amendment would be ready for signatures after the committee reconvened. The committee’s brief poll before concluding recorded “2 in favor, 1 against,” and the House agreed to the language.

The amendment does not, as discussed in the meeting, change existing statutory standards for establishing identity or domicile; committee members said the proposed short form would be used only when the voter’s prior registration record was being restored after removal.

The panel did not prescribe form content beyond the instruction to the Secretary of State. Committee members said the office of the Secretary of State will determine the necessary fields (for example, name and voter ID) and that the committee would review the completed form prior to final adoption if necessary.

The meeting also included broader debate about separate bills that would affect absentee voting and voter-roll maintenance; some members said those measures already enacted or proposed elsewhere in statute made the additional bill unnecessary.

The committee adjourned following the action and said the finalized language would be circulated for signature.