New Hampshire 2025 Regular Session

New Hampshire House Bill HB514 Compare Versions

The same version is selected twice. Please select two different versions to compare.

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	HB 514-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2	2
3	3
4	4
5	5
6	6
7	7	2025 SESSION
8	8
9	9	25-0636
10	10
11	11	07/08
12	12
13	13
14	14
15	15	HOUSE BILL514-FN
16	16
17	17
18	18
19	19	AN ACTallowing private persons to sue for violations of election laws.
20	20
21	21
22	22
23	23	SPONSORS:Rep. Berry, Hills. 44; Rep. Alexander Jr., Hills. 29; Rep. Giasson, Hills. 29; Rep. Mazur, Hills. 44; Rep. Reinfurt, Hills. 29; Rep. Seidel, Hills. 29; Sen. Murphy, Dist 16
24	24
25	25
26	26
27	27	COMMITTEE:Election Law
28	28
29	29
30	30
31	31
32	32
33	33
34	34
35	35	ANALYSIS
36	36
37	37
38	38
39	39	This bill allows for private parties to sue the state for violations of RSA 659.
40	40
41	41
42	42
43	43	- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
44	44
45	45
46	46
47	47	Explanation:Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
48	48
49	49	Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
50	50
51	51	Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
52	52
53	53	25-0636
54	54
55	55	07/08
56	56
57	57
58	58
59	59	STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
60	60
61	61
62	62
63	63	In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Five
64	64
65	65
66	66
67	67	AN ACTallowing private persons to sue for violations of election laws.
68	68
69	69
70	70
71	71	Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
72	72
73	73
74	74
75	75	1 New Chapter; Claims Against the State for Violations of Election Law. Amend RSA by inserting after chapter 546-C the following new chapter:
76	76
77	77	CHAPTER 546-D
78	78
79	79	CLAIMS AGAINST THE STATE FOR VIOLATIONS OF ELECTION LAW
80	80
81	81	546-D:1 Definitions. In this chapter:
82	82
83	83	I. "Agency" means all departments, boards, offices, commissions, institutions, other instrumentalities of state government, including any official or employee of same when acting in the scope of his or her elected or appointed capacity, but excluding political subdivisions of the state.
84	84
85	85	II. "Claimant" means any person who files a claim pursuant to this chapter.
86	86
87	87	III. "Person" means any individual, partnership, association, corporation or political subdivision.
88	88
89	89	VI. "Political subdivision" means any village district, school district, town, city, county or unincorporated place in the state.
90	90
91	91	546-D:2 Initial Notice of Violations of Election Law
92	92
93	93	I. Persons harmed by violations of RSA 659 shall be entitled to seek injunctive relief through a formal complaint with the New Hampshire department of justice or the superior courts.
94	94
95	95	II. Any person who believes they have been harmed by a violation of RSA 659 shall be entitled to file a formal complaint with the New Hampshire department of justice, who shall investigate the complaint and provide a response to the claimant within 5 business days of receipt or immediately upon receipt if within 15 days of an election. Such complaint shall contain sufficient details about the alleged violation, which shall include:
96	96
97	97	(a) A clear and specific description of the alleged election law violation, including the specific statutes that have been violated;
98	98
99	99	(b) Evidence of the harm incurred, or likely to, occur;
100	100
101	101	(c) Identifying information of all involved parties; and
102	102
103	103	(d) Documentation or other supporting materials relevant to the complaint.
104	104
105	105	III. The department of justice shall allow complaints to be filed through an online portal system established by the department, through a physical mailbox, or email through an email submission. A confirmation receipt shall be immediately provided to the claimant using the same manner as the claimant who filed the complaint.
106	106
107	107	IV. The department of justice may take all measures and steps necessary to ensure claimants receive their requested relief.
108	108
109	109	V. Any findings, determinations, or actions or inactions taken by the department of justice shall not limit or restrict the right of any person to seek injunctive relief in superior court.
110	110
111	111	546-D:3 Notice to Superior Court.
112	112
113	113	I. If, under RSA 546-D:2, the department of justice fails to respond within 5 business days, if the claimant files their complaint within 15 days of an election, or if the claimant finds that the department's response is insufficient, the claimant may file an additional complaint in superior court seeking injunctive relief.
114	114
115	115	II. Claimants shall be entitled to institute an action as a representative or representatives of a class as established under RSA 358-A:10-a.
116	116
117	117	546-D:4 Claims Filed Against the State and Its Agent. When a claim filed pursuant to this chapter is against both the state and an agent, official or employee of the state, the superior court shall determine whether the state is responsible for the actions of the agent, employee or official. If the superior court determines that the state is responsible for the actions of the agent, employee or official; the agent, employee or official shall be dismissed as a defendant and the plaintiff shall proceed solely against the state.
118	118
119	119	546-D:5 Claimants' Rights Against Others. The adjudication by the superior court on any claim before it shall not deprive the claimant of any other legal rights she or he may have against another party.
120	120
121	121	546-D:6 Settlement. Any payment made pursuant to this chapter shall be in full settlement of any liability on behalf of the agency which was subject to the claim and no further action may be instituted in any court of law for recovery of damages against that agency on any matter arising out of that particular claim.
122	122
123	123	546-D:7 Attorneys' Fees. No attorney representing a claimant shall charge or collect fees for legal services rendered to the claimant unless the fees have been approved by the superior court, as the case may be. In determining the amount of allowable fees, the superior court shall consider, among other things, the nature, length, and complexity of the services performed, the usual and customary charge for work of like kind, and the benefits resulting to the claimant as a result of the legal services performed.
124	124
125	125	546-D:8 Exceptions.
126	126
127	127	I. Without otherwise limiting or defining the sovereign immunity of the state and its agencies, the provisions of this chapter shall not apply to:
128	128
129	129	(a) Any claim which is based upon the exercise of a legislative or judicial function.
130	130
131	131	(b) Any claim based upon an act or omission of a state officer, employee, or official when such officer, employee, or official is exercising due care in the execution of any statute or any rule of a state agency.
132	132
133	133	(c) Any claim based upon the exercise or performance or the failure to exercise or perform a discretionary executive or planning function or duty on the part of the state or any state agency or a state officer, employee, or official acting within the scope of his office or employment.
134	134
135	135	(d) Any claim arising out of an intentional tort, including assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, intentional mental distress, malicious prosecution, malicious abuse of process, libel, slander, misrepresentation, deceit, invasion of privacy, interference with advantageous relations, or interference with contractual relations, provided that the employee whose conduct gives rise to the claim reasonably believes, at the time of the acts or omissions complained of, that his conduct was lawful, and provided further that the acts complained of were within the scope of official duties of the employee for the state.
136	136
137	137	2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2026.
138	138
139	139
140	140
141	141	LBA
142	142
143	143	25-0636
144	144
145	145	Revised 2/11/25
146	146
147	147
148	148
149	149	HB 514-FN- FISCAL NOTE
150	150
151	151	AS INTRODUCED
152	152
153	153
154	154
155	155	AN ACTallowing private persons to sue for violations of election laws.
156	156
157	157
158	158
159	159	FISCAL IMPACT:
160	160
161	161
162	162	Estimated State Impact
163	163	FY 2025 FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028
164	164	Revenue $0 $0 $0 $0
165	165	Revenue Fund None
166	166	Expenditures* Indeterminable IncreaseMore then $500,000 to $1,000,000 or less per fiscal year
167	167	Funding Source General Fund
168	168	Appropriations* $0 $0 $0 $0
169	169	Funding Source None
170	170	Expenditure = Cost of bill Appropriation = Authorized funding to cover cost of bill
171	171
172	172
173	173
174	174
175	175
176	176	Estimated State Impact
177	177
178	178
179	179
180	180	FY 2025
181	181
182	182	FY 2026
183	183
184	184	FY 2027
185	185
186	186	FY 2028
187	187
188	188	Revenue
189	189
190	190	$0
191	191
192	192	$0
193	193
194	194	$0
195	195
196	196	$0
197	197
198	198	Revenue Fund
199	199
200	200	None
201	201
202	202	Expenditures*
203	203
204	204	Indeterminable Increase
205	205
206	206	More then $500,000 to $1,000,000 or less
207	207
208	208	per fiscal year
209	209
210	210	Funding Source
211	211
212	212	General Fund
213	213
214	214	Appropriations*
215	215
216	216	$0
217	217
218	218	$0
219	219
220	220	$0
221	221
222	222	$0
223	223
224	224	Funding Source
225	225
226	226	None
227	227
228	228	Expenditure = Cost of bill Appropriation = Authorized funding to cover cost of bill
229	229
230	230
231	231
232	232	METHODOLOGY:
233	233
234	234	This bill adds, deletes, or modifies a criminal penalty, or changes statute to which there is a penalty for violation. Therefore, this bill may have an impact on the judicial and correctional systems, which could affect prosecution, incarceration, probation, and parole costs, for the state, as well as county and local governments. A summary of such costs can be found at: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/lba/Budget/Fiscal_Notes/JudicialCorrectionalCosts.pdf
235	235
236	236
237	237
238	238	The Department of Justice (DOJ) states that although the Department is already required to investigate alleged violations under RSA 659, the conditions of this bill would require timelines for these investigation. Therefore the DOJ's Election Law Unit would need additional staff to adhere to these timelines and additional investigations, complaints, and lawsuits. However, the bill does not provide funding nor does it authorize new positions. For a detailed estimated cost breakdown, refer to the table below.
239	239
240	240
241	241
242	242	ESTIMATED FISCAL IMPACT (ROUNDED) FOR ADDTIONAL STAFF
243	243	FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028
244	244	Assistant Attorney General (1 position) $125,000 $128,000 $128,000
245	245	Investigator General (1 position) $121,000 $127,000 $132,000
246	246	Office space, computers, office equipment, travel, and other supplies (includes vehicle for investigator in FY 2026) $55,900 $8,600 $8,600
247	247	Total Estimated Cost $301,900 $263,600 $268,600
248	248
249	249	ESTIMATED FISCAL IMPACT (ROUNDED) FOR ADDTIONAL STAFF
250	250
251	251
252	252
253	253	FY 2026
254	254
255	255	FY 2027
256	256
257	257	FY 2028
258	258
259	259	Assistant Attorney General (1 position)
260	260
261	261	$125,000
262	262
263	263	$128,000
264	264
265	265	$128,000
266	266
267	267	Investigator General (1 position)
268	268
269	269	$121,000
270	270
271	271	$127,000
272	272
273	273	$132,000
274	274
275	275	Office space, computers, office equipment, travel, and other supplies (includes vehicle for investigator in FY 2026)
276	276
277	277	$55,900
278	278
279	279	$8,600
280	280
281	281	$8,600
282	282
283	283	Total Estimated Cost
284	284
285	285	$301,900
286	286
287	287	$263,600
288	288
289	289	$268,600
290	290
291	291
292	292
293	293	The overall settlement costs cannot be estimated however the DOJ anticipates a cost of more than $500,000 to $1,000,000 or less per fiscal year between the additional staff and the unknown settlements.
294	294
295	295
296	296
297	297	This bill could possibly result in an increase in civil cases in the Superior Court, however, there is no way to predict how many such actions would occur so any such increase is indeterminable. The Judicial Branch has provided average cost information for civil cases in the Superior Court:
298	298
299	299
300	300
301	301	NH Judicial Branch Average Civil Case Estimates
302	302
303	303
304	304
305	305	Judicial Branch Average Cost FY 2025 FY 2026
306	306	Superior Court Complex Civil Case $1,430 $1,473
307	307	Superior Court Routine Civil Case $535 $552
308	308
309	309	Judicial Branch Average Cost
310	310
311	311	FY 2025
312	312
313	313	FY 2026
314	314
315	315	Superior Court
316	316
317	317	Complex Civil Case
318	318
319	319	$1,430
320	320
321	321	$1,473
322	322
323	323	Superior Court
324	324
325	325	Routine Civil Case
326	326
327	327	$535
328	328
329	329	$552
330	330
331	331
332	332
333	333	Common Civil Case Fees
334	334
335	335
336	336
337	337	Superior Court Fees As of 2/12/2020
338	338	Original Entry Fee $280
339	339	Third-Party Claim $280
340	340	Motion to Reopen $160
341	341
342	342	Superior Court Fees
343	343
344	344	As of 2/12/2020
345	345
346	346	Original Entry Fee
347	347
348	348	$280
349	349
350	350	Third-Party Claim
351	351
352	352	$280
353	353
354	354	Motion to Reopen
355	355
356	356	$160
357	357
358	358
359	359
360	360
361	361
362	362	AGENCIES CONTACTED:
363	363
364	364	Judicial Branch, Judicial Council, Department of Justice, Department of Corrections, New Hampshire Association of Counties, and New Hampshire Municipal Association