How to Fill Out an Application to Receive an

Absentee Ballot for the September 8

New Hampshire State Primary

You may download and print an application here. The Town Clerk requests that you print it as a single sheet, front and back.  If you don't have printer,  contact Anne Huberman to get a copy.

Here's how to fill out each section:

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

If you are already registered to vote in Peterborough at your RiverMead address, check the first box.  If you are not sure if you are registered, you may check here. If you have not yet registered in Peterborough and qualify to receive absentee registration materials by mail, check the second box in Section I.  If you don't qualify for absentee registration, you should register in person with the Town Clerk. See further instructions about registering here.  If you need help registering to vote, please contact Mary Vallier-Kaplan.

Choose the reason that applies. You may check the fifth box, stating that "I am unable to vote in person due to a disability" if you have a disability.

Check off the box for "State Primary or Special Primary Election to be held on 9/8/2026."

Skip this part of the form unless it is the Monday before the election.

If someone has helped you fill out the form, have that person sign and print his or her name in the last part of the form.

This is a new section.  State law now requires verification of your identity when you apply for an absentee ballot.. Unless you are able to visit the Town Clerk to present an acceptable ID, you will need to check Box 1 or Box 3.  Check Box 1 if you have a photocopy of an acceptable ID according to this website from the Secretary of State.  Note that if you are 65 or older, an acceptable photo ID may be used without regard to expiration date.  Check Box 3 if you don't have a photocopy of an acceptable ID and have asked a Notary Public to notarize your absentee ballot request.  Here is a list of RiverMead staff members who are Notary Publics. Call 603-924-0033 and the extension listed to get help from a notary on this list.

Turn the form over and print your last, first, and middle names.  Then print your RiverMead address including your unit #.  Leave the ward blank.  (Peterborough does not have wards.)  If you will be away and want the ballot mailed to a different address, fill that in. Otherwise leave that second address blank.  Then fill in your phone number and email address (if you have one) so that you can be contacted if there are any questions about your application.  Then sign your name and fill in the date.  Your application will be rejected if it has no signature.  (In 2018 a federal judge ruled that local election officials cannot reject absentee ballots merely because they think the voter's signature looks different than it does on an earlier affidavit, calling the process "fundamentally flawed." Town clerks no longer try to match signatures.)

Mail your application to Linda Guyette, Town Clerk, 1 Grove St., Peterborough, NH 03458.  Be sure to mail it immediately, at least two weeks or more before the election.  There must be time for the Town Clerk to receive the application, process it, mail you the ballot, and receive the ballot from you before election day. There have been long postal delays recently.  If you don't have time to mail it, you can take your application to the Town Clerk's office, submit it, receive an absentee ballot, and vote.  Be sure to take a picture ID with you.

OR fax it to 603-924-8001.

OR scan (no electronic signatures) your application and photo ID and then email them to townclerk@peterboroughnh.gov.  If you are sending them for someone else, include your own photo ID.

Important note: You can request ballots for both the Primary and the General Election now, if you wish.  That makes the slow mail less of an issue.

Check the box for the party in which you are currently registered.  If you are registered as "undeclared," check the box for the party for which you wish to have a ballot.