How to Register To Vote
This guidance was updated on February 25, 2025. Do not rely on previous versions.
To register to vote in New Hampshire, you must be:
- 18 years of age or older on election day
- A United States citizen, AND
- Domiciled in the town or ward where you seek to vote.
QUALIFICATIONS OF VOTING APPLICANTS
You must provide documents to prove your identity, age, citizenship, and domicile to register. You may present documents in paper or electronic form.
- A driver’s license or non-driver ID from any state is proof of identity and age. A driver’s license or non-driver ID is also proof of domicile if the
listed address matches the domicile address you enter on the voter registration form. - A birth certificate, U.S. Passport/Passport card, or naturalization document is proof of citizenship and age.
Note: A New Hampshire Real ID compliant driver’s license is NOT proof of U.S. Citizenship.
New Hampshire does not have a durational residency requirement. You can move to New Hampshire, establish your voting domicile on or just prior to election day, provide documents proving your qualifications, register, and vote. New Hampshire has election day voter registration at the polling place.
If you possess one of the following qualified documents issued in your name, you must bring and present it when registering to vote:
- New Hampshire driver’s license or identification card issued by the Department of Safety, Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) under RSA 260:21, RSA 260:21-a, or RSA 260:21-b.
- You may obtain photo identification for voting purposes only, free of charge from the DMV. Obtain a voucher from your town clerk or the Secretary of State’s office to present to the DMV. Information on the documents you will need to present to the DMV is available here, see "Proof of Identity and Residency": www.dmv.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt416/files/inline-documents/dsmv634b.pdf
- This document is proof of identity, age. This document is also proof of domicile if the listed address matches the domicile address entered on the applicant’s voter registration form.
- New Hampshire resident vehicle registration.
- This document is proof of domicile if the listed address matches the domicile address you enter on the voter registration form.
- Picture identification issued by the United States government that contains a current address.
- This document is proof of identity, proof of age if your date-of-birth is listed, and proof of domicile if the listed address matches the domicile address you enter on the voter registration form.
- A government issued check, benefit statement, or tax document.
- This document is proof of domicile if the listed address matches the domicile address you enter on the voter registration form.
If you do not possess any of these documents and attest under penalty of voting fraud that you do not possess any of these documents, you may use other reasonable documentation to prove your qualifications to vote. If needed, the election official receiving your application will provide you with an attestation form to complete. With this form, you will attest that you do not possess any of the documents listed above.
Citizenship
Any one of the following documents, listing your current legal name, prove your United States citizenship:
- Birth certificate;
- United States passport or passport card;
- Naturalization papers;
- Other reasonable documentation that establishes that it is more likely than not that you are a United States citizen.
If your name has legally changed, for example through marriage, divorce, adoption, or a court-approved name change, and you will use any of these
documents to prove United States citizenship, you must present proof of your legal name change that shows both your prior name as it appears on your proof of citizenship document and your current legal name as it appears on the voter registration application. Your marriage certificate, divorce decree, adoption papers, or the court order approving your name change will usually satisfy this requirement.
Age
Any reasonable documentation indicating that you will be 18 years of age or older on the date of the next election.
Domicile
If you do not possess any of the documents listed above and sign an attestation to that fact, many other types of documents can prove your domicile. You may
use other reasonable documentation of having established a physical presence at the address you are claiming as your domicile, having an intent to make that place your domicile, and having taken a verifiable act to carry out that intent. The proof of domicile document you offer must establish that it is more likely than not that you have a voting domicile at the address you enter on the voter registration form and intend to maintain that domicile at least until election day.
The law requires that the document you provide to prove domicile “manifests [your] intent to maintain a single continuous presence for domestic, social, and civil purposes relevant to participating in democratic self-government.” RSA 654:1.
The following documents are recognized by law as proof of domicile. You need only one document:
- A document from the school that you attend showing that you live in campus housing. A document issued by the school that has your name and the address (on or off campus) where you live qualifies. Many colleges and universities provide students with acceptable documents.
- Students may use a smart phone or other electronic device to show the election official a page from the college or university’s official student electronic records website. The web page must list the student’s name and dorm assignment or off-campus residence address. Some universities have established a web page resource specifically for this purpose. Consult your school officials if you cannot find and display this information from your school’s system.
- A document showing the address that you claim as domicile listing the name of the owner, property manager (for a college dorm this includes a school official or Resident Assistant), or tenant along with a written statement from the person listed as the owner, property manager, or tenant that you reside at that address. The statement must acknowledge that the person signing does so under penalty of voting fraud if false information is provided. An optional voluntary form for this purpose can be obtained from your clerk or the Secretary of State’s office: https://www.sos.nh.gov/elections/register-vote. A written signed statement containing the same information satisfies the law. The person vouching for your living at the same address may use any one of the documents described above to prove their own domicile. A college official or Resident Assistant can use college stationary or a college form.
- A rental agreement, lease, or similar document that shows your name, the address of your domicile, and that you are renting or leasing at that address for a period of more than 30 days, to include time directly prior to an election day. The document must show the domicile you plan to have on Election Day.
- A document showing that you own the place you claim as domicile, such as a deed, property tax bill, or other similar document that has your name and the domicile address you enter on the voter registration form.
- A document containing your name and the address you claim as domicile showing that you enrolled a dependent minor child in an established public or private elementary or secondary school which serves the town or ward of your domicile.
- Any state or federal tax form, other government form, or government issued identification that shows your name and your domicile address.
- Any form from the U.S. Post Office showing your name and the physical address where you are domiciled (not a Post Office Box). The confirmation you received by e-mail or U.S. mail when you reported your new address to the post office fulfills the requirement.
- Canceled mail addressed in your name to your domicile address that shows the U.S. Postal Service delivered the mail to you at that address satisfies the proof of domicile requirement.
- A public utility bill, such as an electric, telephone, water, gas, or other utility bill, with your name and domicile address on it.
- A note from a homeless shelter or other service provider located in the town or ward where you will vote that confirms they will receive U.S. mail sent to you at that address. An optional voluntary form for this purpose can be obtained online from the Secretary of State’s office here: https://www.sos.nh.gov/elections/register-vote.
You may also use any other reasonable documentation that establishes that it is more likely than not that you are domiciled at the address you have entered on the voter registration application.
You may call or visit your town or city clerk’s office if you have any questions about proof of domicile. Look up your clerk’s address and contact information here: app.sos.nh.gov
Identity
Anyone of the following documents is proof of your identity:
- Photo driver’s license issued by any state or the federal government.
- United States passport, passcard, armed services identification or other photo identification issued by the United States government.
- Photo identification issued by local or state government.
- Any other reasonable evidence that establishes that it is more likely than not you are who you claim to be.
- Verification of your identity based on personal knowledge by the moderator or other election official. (Ex: clerk, supervisor of the checklist, registrar, select board member, ward clerk, and their deputy, assistant, or pro tem appointee.)
- Residents of a nursing home or similar facility may prove their identity through verification by the facility administrator or by his or her designee.
Bring Proof Documents to Register
You must bring documents that establish your qualifications with you when registering to vote. If you do not have proof documents with you, you will be directed to retrieve them and return to complete your registration when you can provide the required proof of your qualifications as a voter.
Do not hesitate to ask the town/city clerk or the supervisors of the checklist at their meeting or at the polls on Election Day if you have any questions about how to register to vote. Your local election officials will help you.
Absentee voter Registration
You may register to vote by absentee (by mail) if one of the following is true:
- You will be absent from the town or city on the dates/times when the supervisors of the checklist meet to receive voter registration applications. Check your town/city website or contact your clerk’s office to obtain the schedule for supervisors’ meetings. The supervisors are required to meet at least one time every 90 days, including the day before the filing period starts for state and local elections, on dates leading up to town/city elections and on all election days. For state elections they must also meet:
- 6 to 13 days before the September 8, 2026, primary and
- 6 to 13 days before the November 3, 2026, general election.
- You cannot appear in public because of observance of a religious commitment;
- You are unable to apply for registration in person because of a physical disability;
- You are a victim of domestic violence and have an active court issued protective order or are participating in the Attorney General’s address confidentiality program; or
- You are a person confined to a penal institution awaiting trial or because of a misdemeanor conviction. A person who is incarcerated because of a felony conviction is not eligible to register or vote while incarcerated.
Accessible Electronic Absentee Voter Registration
You may register through an accessible electronic absentee voter registration process if you meet the state’s requirements and qualifications to vote and are unable to register to vote in person because of a print-based physical disability (e.g., blindness, unable to complete a paper form with a pen). You should request an Accessible Absentee Voter Registration Affidavit and an Accessible Standard Voter Registration form directly from your city or town clerk. The Application for an Accessible Electronic Absentee Ballot also allows you to request the electronic forms necessary for absentee electronic voter registration.
Click here to download the Application for an Accessible Electronic Absentee Ballot
www.sos.nh.gov/elections/learn-about-voting-disabilities
What is a "domicile"?
“The fundamental idea of domicile is home.” Felker v. Henderson, 78 N.H. 509, 511 (1917).
“An inhabitant's domicile for voting purposes is that one place where a person, more than any other place, has established a physical presence and manifests an intent to maintain a single continuous presence for domestic, social, and civil purposes relevant to participating in democratic self-government. A person has the right to change domicile at any time, however a mere intention to change domicile in the future does not, of itself, terminate an established domicile before the person actually moves.” RSA 654:1, I.
“A student of any institution of learning may lawfully claim domicile for voting purposes in the New Hampshire town or city in which he or she lives while attending such institution of learning if such student's claim of domicile otherwise meets the requirements of RSA 654:1, I.” RSA 654:1, I-a.
“A voter can have only one domicile for voting purposes.” RSA 654:2, I.
“A domicile for voting purposes acquired by any person in any town shall not be interrupted or lost by a temporary absence therefrom with the intention of returning thereto as his or her domicile. Domicile for the purpose of voting as defined in RSA 654:1, once existing, continues to exist until another such domicile is gained. Domicile for purposes of voting is a question of fact and intention coupled with a verifiable act or acts carrying out that intent.” RSA 654:2, I.
“RSA 654:1, I, like common law domicile, requires physical presence and the intent to make one’s place of physical presence one’s home (that “one place where a person, more than any other place, has established a physical presence and manifests an intent to maintain a single, continuous presence for domestic, social, and civil purposes relevant to participating in democratic self- government”).” Casey v. N.H. Sec’y. of State, 173 N.H. 266, 274 (2020).
Under New Hampshire law, the terms “domicile” and “residence” are equivalent. Establishing a voting domicile may also trigger certain other residency obligations under state law. These may include the obligation to obtain a New Hampshire driver’s license and/or motor vehicle registration. For more information on this, please visit: www.sos.nh.gov/elections/frequently-asked-questions/voter-registration-a...
NEW VOTERS CAN COME TO THE TOWN CLERK OFFICE TO REGISTER TO VOTE DURING REGULAR BUSINESS HOURS OR DURING A CHECKLIST SUPERVISOR SESSION.
For information about the next session of the Supervisors of the Checklist, visit their meeting calendar page.
