How to vote in the state primary Tuesday

Voting is open until 7 p.m. in most polling places – though some are open until 8. (Kate Brindley | New Hampshire Bulletin)

Out of the 895,498 registered voters in New Hampshire, about 251,000 – or 28 percent – are expected to come out to the polls for the state primary on Tuesday.

That’s according to predictions from Secretary of State Dave Scanlan on Friday. Scanlan also predicts more voters turning out for the Republican primary than the Democratic primary: with 147,500 expected to vote for Republican candidates and 103,500 voters expected to vote for Democrats.

Currently, New Hampshire has 300,672 registered Republicans, or 34 percent of the electorate; 258,824 Democrats, or 29 percent, and 336,002 undeclared voters, or 38 percent.

Voting is open until 7 p.m. in most polling places – though some are open until 8. To find the hours of your polling location, go to: https://app.sos.nh.gov/pollingplacesampleballot .

Interested in voting Tuesday? Here is your guide to do it.

Where do I vote and who can I vote for?

To find your polling place, go to https://app.sos.nh.gov/pollingplacesampleballot and put in your home address. You will get the address for your polling place and the opening hours.

Want to know which candidates you can vote for once you get to that polling place? Go to https://www.sos.nh.gov/elections/sample-ballots and select the party primary you are eligible for and select the town or city ward you live in. You will see a sample ballot with candidates in all contested elections within that party’s primary.

Because these are state primaries, voters are limited to voting in one party’s primary. If you are already registered as a Republican or a Democrat, you must vote in that party’s primary. If you are unregistered or undeclared, you may vote in either primary by requesting a ballot for that party’s primary. Doing this automatically registers you as a member of that party. After voting, you may re-register as “undeclared” with the supervisor of the checklist if you’d like to remain undeclared.

Do you live in a city and want to know which ward to vote in? The New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office does not currently provide a tool for that, but the nonpartisan organization Citizens Count does. Just click this link , enter your address, and click on the icon on the map to find your ward.

What do I need to bring to the polls?

If you are already registered to vote at your polling place, you should bring photo identification. (If you are not yet registered, skip to the next section.)

Identification can include a driver’s license issued by any state or federal government; a non-driver ID card from the New Hampshire Department of Transportation; a U.S. armed services ID card; a U.S. passport; a New Hampshire student ID card; or a photo ID that is determined to be legitimate by the moderator.

If you do not have identification on you or you forget it, you can vote using a “challenged voter affidavit.” That’s a form in which you attest that you are who you say you are, and that you live in that town or city voting ward. After submitting that affidavit, the Secretary of State will send you a “letter of identity verification” sometime before Jan 10. That letter is designed to confirm that you do live at that address; you will be asked to return the letter to the Secretary of State’s Office with written confirmation that you live there and you are the same person who voted.

If the moderator at your polling place knows you, they may also confirm your identity personally, though you would still vote with a challenged voter affidavit.

How do I register to vote on Election Day?

As long as you are a U.S. citizen, are 18 or older, and are domiciled in the town you are voting in, you are eligible to register to vote on Election Day.

To do this, you will need to bring a form of ID and proof of your residency to the polls. Residency proof can include your driver’s license, if the listed address is current; a photo ID, a lease agreement, or a utility bill that includes your name and the address.

If you do not have a photo ID and are attempting to register, a staff member at the polling place will take your photo. If you have a religious objection to being photographed, you may fill out an Affidavit of Religious Objection and a photo will not be taken.

If you are registering without sufficient documentation, you will fill out an envelope and receive an “affidavit voter package,” which will include a prepaid envelope to the Secretary of State’s Office in Concord. After you leave the polling place, you are required to use that envelope to mail copies of all documents that are needed to register to vote. That envelope must be sent within seven days of Election Day, according to RSA 659:23-a , under a new law passed in 2022 .

Not sure whether you’re registered to vote already? You can look that up at https://app.sos.nh.gov/voterinformation . Put in your town or city, name, and date of birth, and the database will tell you where you are currently registered to vote, if anywhere. Remember, if you no longer live where you are currently registered to vote, it is illegal to vote there.