How to Vote in New Hampshire

Checking that you are registered, registering if you are not, what to bring, and where to vote, step by step, with the Secretary of State's page for each.

Checked against its sources October 11, 2026.

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“How to Vote in New Hampshire.” Granite Record, https://graniterecord.org/guides/how-to-vote. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.
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Granite Record. (n.d.). How to Vote in New Hampshire. Retrieved 19 Oct. 2026, from https://graniterecord.org/guides/how-to-vote
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Granite Record. “How to Vote in New Hampshire.” Accessed 19 Oct. 2026. https://graniterecord.org/guides/how-to-vote.
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@misc{guides-how-to-vote, title = {How to Vote in New Hampshire}, howpublished = {Granite Record}, url = {https://graniterecord.org/guides/how-to-vote}, note = {Accessed 19 Oct. 2026} }

At a Glance

You vote at the polling place for the town or city ward where you live. If you are not registered there yet, you can register with your town or city clerk before the election, or at your polling place on election day. To register you need proof of your identity, your age, your citizenship and where you live, and every voter shows proof of identity to get a ballot.

  1. Are you registered to vote where you live now?

    • YesFind your polling place, then vote.
    • No, or not sureCheck online. If you are not, register with your clerk before the election, or at the polling place on election day.
  2. To register, bring proof of who you are, your age, your citizenship and where you live.
  3. On election day, show proof of identity to get your ballot, or vote absentee if you qualify.

Step by Step

  1. Check whether you are already registered

    The Secretary of State’s voter information lookup tells you whether you are registered and where your polling place is.

    You can vote only in the town, or the ward of a city, where you live. If you have moved to a new town or ward, you need to register at your new address; a move within the same town or ward is an address change, made on the same form.

    Check your voter registration

    The law: RSA 654:7, I

  2. Make sure you can register

    You can register if, on election day, you will be:

    • at least 18 years old,
    • a United States citizen, and
    • living in the town or city ward where you are registering.

    There is no minimum time you must have lived there first. “Living” here is what the law calls your domicile: the one place you call home and take part in public life from. You can have only one.

    You can register as a Democrat, a Republican, or Undeclared.

    The law: RSA 654:7, I

  3. Register with your clerk, or at the polls

    You fill in a voter registration form, and you can do it in any of these ways:

    • Before the election, at your town or city clerk’s office in office hours, or at a session of the supervisors of the checklist (the elected board that keeps your town's list of voters). Registration before an election closes 6 to 13 days before it, on a date your supervisors set, so ask your clerk for it.
    • On election day, at your polling place. You register, then vote at that election. If you are waiting in line to register when the polls close, you may still register and vote.
    • By absentee registration, if you qualify and cannot register in person.

    Find your town or city clerkRegistration deadlines

    The law: RSA 654:8, RSA 654:7-a

  4. Bring proof of four things

    When you register you must show proof of your identity, your age, your citizenship and your domicile. Examples the Secretary of State gives:

    • Identity: a photo driver’s license from any state; a U.S. passport, passport card or armed services ID; or photo ID from a local, state or federal government.
    • Age: a driver’s license, government photo ID, or passport or passport card.
    • Citizenship: a U.S. birth certificate, U.S. passport or passport card, or naturalization papers. Being registered to vote in New Hampshire now, or before, also proves it.
    • Domicile: a New Hampshire driver’s license or non-driver ID, a New Hampshire vehicle registration, a federal photo ID, or a government check, benefit statement or tax document showing your address. Without one of those, there is a form to fill in together with a lease, a utility bill, or a confirmation signed by the owner, manager or tenant where you live, and a separate form for people who are homeless.

    If you are missing a document, ask your clerk: with your permission, election officials can check New Hampshire voter, motor vehicle and vital records to help prove your qualifications. A certified copy of a New Hampshire birth or other vital record is free when it is only for registering to vote.

    This changed in 2026, and the courts are still involved. After a court order of May 28, 2026, if you lack the documents to prove your citizenship you may again sign a qualified voter affidavit instead. The affidavit covers citizenship and nothing else: you still need proof of identity, age and domicile. A further order of October 2, 2026 lets election officials consider a student ID, together with other evidence, as proof of identity when you register. This is what the Secretary of State said on October 12, 2026: check the page before you go.

    What counts as proofFree vital record for voter registration

    The law: RSA 654:12

  5. Vote

    On election day, go to your polling place. Every voter must show proof of identity to get a ballot. If you have no approved photo ID, you can get one free, for voting only, from the Division of Motor Vehicles, with a voucher from your clerk or the Secretary of State.

    Find your polling place

    The law: RSA 659:13

  6. If you cannot go in person

    You can vote by absentee ballot if you cannot vote in person because, on election day:

    • you will be out of town;
    • a religious observance prevents it;
    • a physical disability or illness prevents it;
    • work, or caring for a child or an adult, takes the whole time the polls are open;
    • you are confined for a misdemeanor conviction or awaiting trial;
    • you are in the Attorney General’s Address Confidentiality Program or protected by a domestic violence order; or
    • the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm, blizzard or ice storm warning for your town and you are worried about traveling.

    Send the absentee ballot application to your town or city clerk, not the state, with the proof of identity the form asks for. You can apply up to six months before the election. The deadline to ask by mail is noon the day before the election, and to ask and vote in person at the clerk’s office, 5 p.m. the day before. A mailed ballot must reach your clerk by 5 p.m. on election day, so ask for it more than two weeks ahead. The voter information lookup shows when your clerk got your request, sent your ballot, and received it back.

    Absentee ballotsAbsentee ballot application

    The law: RSA 657:1

Who Can Help

Your town or city clerk is the person to ask about registering and voting where you live: what to bring, the deadline, and absentee ballots. The Secretary of State calls local and state election officials voters’ trusted source of election information.

In the Record

Chapter 654: Voters and Checklists

Laws that changed it since 2020, newest first:

Chapter 657: Absentee Voting

Laws that changed it since 2020, newest first:

Chapter 659: Election Procedure

Bills now before the General Court that would change it:

Laws that changed it since 2020, newest first:

See Also

Where This Comes From