I haven't been able to find a confirmed source where 17 year olds in New Hampshire can vote in the primary. I found a news article from 2009 that said 17 year olds were still not able to vote (
source).
Can anyone confirm whether or not 17 year olds can vote in the New Hampshire primary?
YES, most 17 year olds can certainly vote in the NH primary. One must be 18 on the day of the general election (Nov. 6 2012), NOT the day of the primary.
So anyone born on or before Nov. 6 1994 can vote in the NH Primary. This actually applies to most (maybe all?) of the other primaries and caucuses, certainly also Iowa.
This is confusing because most literature states "18 years of age or older on election day." What you have to understand is that "election day" means the day of the general election as set by the federal government. (
see here) The primary is not "election day" - nobody is being legally elected to office, merely vying for party nomination. You could call it "state party preliminary nomination day" if you want. (I say preliminary because the real nomination happens at a state convention months later.)
Regardless, I am very positive that in both Iowa and New Hampshire, this is how the age rules work.
It should also be noted that anyone in NH who is currently unregistered to vote (likely all the 17 year olds in question) CAN REGISTER ON THE DAY OF THE PRIMARY!
Here is some info from the NH secretary of state in regard to these issues:
http://www.sos.nh.gov/HOW TO REGISTER TO VOTE2012.pdf
Also from the NH GOP:
http://www.nhgop.org/pages/detail/51
The article which you referenced earlier is in regard to the possibility of 17yr olds voting in the general election (hence, that would mean most 16yr olds could vote in primaries). This does not appear to be going through anytime soon, so for now it all stands as I laid out above.