TITLE LXIII
ELECTIONS

CHAPTER 655
NOMINATIONS

Nominations for Special State Elections

Section 655:81

    655:81 Nomination of U.S. Representative, Executive Councilor, State Senator and Representative to the General Court. –
The nomination of candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives or for the executive council or for the state senate or for representative to the general court for special elections shall be accomplished through the holding of special election primaries. The filing of candidates for such primaries and all other matters connected with such primaries shall be the same as for primaries before a state general election except that:
I. The special election shall be held on a Tuesday not less than 110 nor more than 124 days following the day that the governor and council declare that there shall be a special election; provided, however, that if one or more municipalities where a special election for state representative will be held have a regularly-scheduled election occurring between 80 and 180 days following the day that the governor and council declare that there shall be a special election, the governor and council shall set the date of the election to coincide with the regularly-scheduled election if a majority of the towns or wards, as represented by the city, jointly request that day; if towns or wards, as represented by the city, request that the special election coincide with regularly-scheduled elections occurring on different dates, the election shall be held on a Tuesday not less than 110 nor more than 124 days following the day that the governor and council declare that there shall be a special election; and
II. The filing period shall start on the Monday following the date on which the governor and council declare that there shall be a special election and shall end at 5:00 p.m. on the Friday of that week; and

[Paragraph III effective until September 8, 2026; see also paragraph III set out below.]


III. Under RSA 655:15, the official with whom state representative candidates shall file shall be the secretary of state, except that a state representative candidate may file with the appropriate town or city clerk under RSA 655:15 or with the secretary of state during the Monday and Tuesday only of the filing period in towns and cities in which the clerk's office is open on one or both of those days, in which case the town or city clerk shall forward each declaration of candidacy to the secretary of state on the same day on which the declaration is filed; and

[Paragraph III effective September 8, 2026; see also paragraph III set out above.]


III. Under RSA 655:15, state representative candidates may file with the secretary of state, except that a state representative candidate may file with his or her appropriate town or city clerk under RSA 655:15, in which case the town or city clerk shall forward each declaration of candidate to the secretary of state on the same day on which the declaration is filed. During the week of filing, if the town or city clerk's office shall not be open for at least 3 days and for at least 2 hours on those days, the clerk shall post contact information for the clerk, deputy clerk, or another election official who the clerk has authorized to accept the declaration of candidacy. The clerk, deputy clerk, or other election official whose contact information is posted shall, in response to being contacted, arrange a time either on that day or within the next business day, during regular business hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., to accept the declaration of candidacy. The dates and times town and city clerks' offices are open for filing during the filing period and any additional contact information shall be listed on the secretary of state's website; and
IV. The primary shall be held 49 days prior to the special election; and
V. Supplementary primary petitions may be filed as needed no later than 5:00 p.m. on the last day of the filing period; and
VI. The deadline for filing nomination papers shall be no later than 5:00 p.m. on the day set for the primary; and
VII. The notice of the primary in RSA 655:11 shall be prepared by the secretary of state and distributed to the town and city clerks as soon as practicable after the setting of the date for the special election; and
VIII. Under RSA 655:12, clerks shall post notices of special election primaries as soon as possible after they are received; and
IX. The names of all candidates for a party nomination at a special election primary shall be printed in alphabetical order on the ballot according to the alphabetization procedure established in RSA 656:5-a; and
X. The publication of the result provided in RSA 659:89 shall not be required; and
XI. The deadline for any candidate to request a recount pursuant to RSA 660:7 shall be 5:00 p.m. on the day after the election. A candidate having requested a recount pursuant to this paragraph may, no later than 5:00 p.m. on the Monday after the primary election, withdraw the request and receive a refund of any fees paid.

Source. 1981, 512:1. 1994, 381:6. 1996, 36:7. 2006, 32:1. 2010, 317:11; 330:2. 2012, 26:1, 2. 2014, 319:11, eff. Aug. 1, 2014. 2026, 293:1, eff. Sept. 8, 2026.