Five New Hampshire state representatives have introduced HB 153. Existing New Hampshire law defines “political party” to be any group that polled at least 4% for either Governor or U.S. Senator at the last election. The bill expands the defintion, so that it also means a group that has at least 3,000 registered members. In order to make that second method for qualifying a party effective for groups that are not not qualified parties, the bill sets up a procedure by which voters may register as members of unqualified parties.

The New Hampshire voter registration form does not list any parties. When a voter fills out a voter registration form, he or she must write in the name of the desired party.

The bill also lowers the number of signatures needed for candidates to get on the November ballot. Existing law requires 3,000 for statewide office; 1,500 for U.S. House; 750 for State Senate; and 150 for State House. The bill reduces these requirements to two-thirds of the existing requirement. Therefore, a statewide candidate would need 2,000, etc.

Some state house districts in New Hampshire are so low in population that the existing requirement of 150 signatures is more than 5% of the number of registered voters. New Hampshire is the only state in the nation in which independent candidates for the legislature ever need a petition greater than 5% of the number of registered voters.

As to the ability of voters to register into unqualified parties, the 2nd circuit, the 10th circuit, and lower courts in Iowa, New Jersey, and Oklahoma have ruled that the U.S. Constitution requires states that have registration by party to extend this to voters who wish to register into unqualified parties. The issue has never been litigated in New Hampshire, which now is one of the few states in which voters cannot register into an unqualified party and have that registration recorded and recognized as legitimate. Thanks to Howard Wilson for this news. The sponsors of the bill include four Republicans and one Democrat. The four Republicans are Timothy Comerford (Fremont), Dino Scala (Wakefield), Cameron DeJong (Manchester), and Daniel Itse (Fremont). The Democratic co-sponsor is David Pierce (Etna).