Absentee ballots for state primary now available; here’s what to know about new ID rules

New Hampshire towns are now equipped with absentee ballots for the Sept. 8 primary, Secretary of State Dave Scanlan announced Monday. 

But requesting those ballots could require some extra steps this year under new laws tightening proof of identity requirements. 

To obtain a ballot this election cycle, absentee voters must either go to their town hall with their ID, send a photocopy of the ID through the mail, or get a notarized signature at home.

The changes come alongside stricter voter ID laws for those voting in person, too.  

Here’s what to know to vote absentee in September, including what has changed and what has stayed the same.

Absentee voting requires an excuse

As has been the case for decades, New Hampshire does not allow absentee voting without a specific excuse. 

Valid reasons include a planned absence from your town on Election Day, disability or illness, work hours that prevent voting when the polls are open, caregiving duties, weather, religious observance, and incarceration.

ID now mandatory

If a voter meets one of the listed reasons, the next step is to request a ballot. This is where the law has changed. 

Under Senate Bill 287, signed by Gov. Kelly Ayotte in 2025, all absentee voters must verify their identity before voting, eliminating the previous option to establish identity under penalty of voter fraud via an affidavit.

This verification can be done in person in town with the ID. Alternatively, if an absentee voter can photocopy their identification, they may include a copy with their ballot application. The third option is to use a notary over their signature.

There are no exceptions: Just as House Bill 1569 requires voters at the polls to provide hard copies of identification to vote, SB 287 now extends that to absentee ballots. 

More from this section

Coldest Augusts in New Hampshire since 1895

Supporters have touted security benefits of verification. Opponents argue the measures are unnecessary and could have a negative impact on voters with disabilities. 

Voters applying to vote absentee in person can receive and fill out their ballots at their town office. Voters applying by mail will have their ballots mailed to them.

The Secretary of State’s Office recommends voters to request a ballot by mail by Sept 7, but ideally two weeks before Election Day — Aug. 25. 

Mail ballots early

Once a voter’s application is processed, they will receive their ballot and two envelopes. The voter should fill out their ballot, fold it and insert it into the smaller envelope, sign and date the envelope, insert that envelope into the larger envelope, and send it to the town clerk. 

The Secretary of State’s Office recommends mailing the ballots a week in advance of the election if possible; only absentee ballots received by 5 p.m. Election Day will be counted. If a voter is returning the ballot in person, they should do so by 5 p.m. Sept 7 — the day before the election.

Voters can track the status of their absentee ballots at app.sos.nh.gov. 

No likely surprises

The latest round of absentee voting comes against the backdrop of a flurry of legal and political activity around voting laws — none of which is likely to affect New Hampshire’s primary at this point.

Last year, two weeks after Ayotte signed the absentee voter ID law, a group of visually impaired New Hampshire residents represented by the Elias Law Group, a Democratic Washington, D.C., law firm, sued in superior court to strike down the law, arguing the verification procedures discriminated against people with disabilities who can’t easily get to a town hall. Rockingham County Superior Court Judge David Ruoff dismissed that lawsuit in December, finding the restrictions reasonable and nondiscriminatory.

However, in May the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire struck down parts of HB 1569 that required proof of citizenship for new registered voters, allowing the requirements for documentary proof of identity to survive. The state Attorney General’s Office has appealed that ruling to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals after initially requesting the federal court stay the ruling, which is unlikely to make a decision before the 2026 primary or general election. 

President Donald Trump has adamantly called for passage of the federal Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, parts of which would override the federal court ruling against HB 1569 and establish documentary citizenship requirements in federal law, but the U.S. Senate adjourned last weekend without apparent support. Senate Republicans have vowed to try for passage in September.

Trump also signed an executive order in March requiring the U.S. Postal Service to screen absentee ballots and compare them to state voter registration lists before delivering them; a federal court has blocked that order in response to a lawsuit by Democratic states, and the U.S. Department of Justice has appealed the injunction to the Supreme Court.