In a statement released today, following
Florida’s decision to conduct its primary in January, Secretary of
State William Gardner made the following comments:
"For more than half a
century, beginning in 1916, the New Hampshire
Presidential Primary was held every four years on the second Tuesday of
March, our traditional town meeting day.
In 1972, the State of
Florida decided by law to have its Presidential Primary on the same day
as New Hampshire. They were not successful. Since then we have not been
able to continue having the primary on the second Tuesday in March, the
only date specified in our state law to this day.
Unfortunately,
we will be unable to have the upcoming Presidential Primary on the
second Tuesday in March and still continue to honor the tradition of
our First in the Nation Presidential Primary.
Because we cannot
rule out the possibility of conducting the primary before the end of
this year, we are, regrettably, as we were four years ago, forced to
move the presidential candidates filing period to October."
The
two-week filing period for the upcoming NEW HAMPSHIRE PRESIDENTIAL
PRIMARY will begin on Monday, October 17, 2011 and end on Friday,
October 28, 2011.
Filings will be accepted at the Secretary of State's Office between the
hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
The
office will be open until 5:00 p.m. on the last day of the filing
period. Any filing made on the LAST day (October 28, 2011) of the
filing period must be made IN PERSON by the candidate.
The
Declaration of Candidacy form is available on the Secretary of State's
website: http://www.sos.nh.gov/presprim2012/index.htm This form and the
fee of $1,000 (cash or certified check) is required to be submitted by
any person filing for the Office of President of the United States.
The
last day for voters interested in changing their party affiliation is
Friday, October 14, 2011. The supervisors of the checklist in every
town will be meeting at a minimum of between 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on
that day for the purpose of correcting the checklist.