The Clerks office is open from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, Monday thru Friday and can be reached by phone at 603-352-0133, option #2.
2022 Election - What's Changed?
- If you haven't voted in the past four years, your name was purged from the voter checklist. Please register at City Hall prior to the Election through October 27th or on election day at the voting location. (more info below)
- Your voting location may not be the same place as it was the last time you voted - please check your ward or your street address and be sure to go to the correct location. 1,273 voters were moved to a different ward in recent redistricting. (more info below)
Election Dates:
State Primary, September 13, 2022.
State General Election, November 8, 2022.
More Info:
Every ten years there is a ten-year purge of the voter checklist. This occurred in Keene in the spring of 2021. If a voter did not vote in any of the elections in the preceding four years, they were removed from the checklist. 6,394 voters were identified for removal. All of these voters received notice of the pending removal and their opportunity to inform the office of their desire to remain. Less than a dozen voters asked to remain on the checklist.
Election Day voter registration will be available at all polling locations. All voters should bring a photo identification and proof of domicile. Affidavits are available if the voter cannot prove their identity or domicile.
There is also a redistricting effort every ten years for which the purpose is to equalize the population of each voting district. In Keene, this effort was completed following the purging of the checklist. 1,273 voters were moved between the wards to equalize the population. All of these voters received notice of their change in ward along with the address of their new polling location.
As part of the required redistricting effort, new legislative districts were drawn for Representatives to the General Court. Previously, Keene’s ward lines and the State District lines were contiguous. Keene elected one State Representative from each of the City’s five wards. Another 5 Representatives were elected at large from the City’s five wards. The new plan reduces Keene’s representation to the General Court from 10 Representatives to 8 Representatives. One Representative will continue to be elected from each ward, but the other 3 Representatives will be shared with neighboring communities surrounding Keene.
Since the 2020 election, there has been a concerted effort to provide greater transparency in the election process. The State of New Hampshire has adopted several new voting laws to increase the transparency of the voting process, the accuracy of the vote count, and the chain of custody of the ballots and voting equipment. In addition, the State is requiring enhanced testing of the voting equipment intended to detect any hacks of the counting device that would count a vote for one candidate as a vote for their opponent.
New Hampshire’s elections are run by citizens who take time out of their lives for this important civic responsibility. They take an oath of office to impartially discharge their duties with the goal of providing an environment where all voters are treated with respect and have confidence that their votes will be accurately counted. Any Keene voter is welcome and encouraged to learn more about Keene’s elections and consider being part of the election team.
For detailed election information, please visit our Elections and Voting page.
