New Hampshire Election Security Safeguards

Every state has laws and rules that protect the integrity of the election process before, during, and after voting takes place. Here are some of New Hampshire’s key safeguards.

New Hampshire has rigorous checks in place to maintain clean voter rolls and ensure that voting systems are secure and accurate. 

• As an initial protection against ineligible registrations, federal law requires that registrants provide their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number when registering to vote for the first time.
• Federal law requires election officials to remove anyone from the voter rolls who has died, moved, or otherwise become ineligible. In New Hampshire, officials are required to perform an annual review of the list of registered voters. Officials are also required to remove voters when they receive change-of-address notifications from the United States Postal Service or Department of Safety or notification that a voter has died. They may send a notice letter to the voter before removal. Finally, if a voter has not voted in five years, they may be required to reregister to vote in order to remain on the rolls.
• State law requires the town or city clerk to conduct a pre-election test with official ballots and notify the public before doing so. Logic and accuracy tests verify that voting systems are programmed to interpret voter markings and report vote totals accurately, before any voter casts a ballot.

New Hampshire has layers of safeguards to protect voting processes and ensure that only eligible voters can cast ballots.

• There is a paper record of every vote cast. Most voters hand-mark paper ballots, whether voting in person or by mail. Polling places also offer accessible voting systems with verifiable paper records for voters with disabilities.
• New Hampshire law requires that at least two election inspectors staff each polling place, one from each political party. Election inspector duties include managing polling places, checking in voters, distributing ballots, and assisting voters who require assistance marking ballots.
• All mail ballot envelopes must contain the voter’s signature. Under New Hampshire state law, election officials must compare the signature to the one on the absentee ballot application.
• Voters can track their mail ballots on the secretary of state’s website.

New Hampshire’s safeguards do not end on election night. In the weeks after polls close, election officials go through a series of checks to confirm that vote totals are complete and accurate before certifying final results.

• After ballots are initially counted, election officials must sign a post-election certificate that includes a variety of records, including polling place records that show the number of voters who checked in and number of ballots issued. 
• New Hampshire state law requires the secretary of state to conduct an audit after state primary and general elections and presidential primaries of randomly selected precincts. Two percent of ballots or 50 ballots, whichever is greater, must be counted by hand.