2025 Municipal Election

Your guide to the 2025 Municipal Election

The next City of Dover election is Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, where voters will elect all municipal election seats. 

All city voters will vote elect a Mayor, two at-large City Councilors, and one at-large School Board member.

Voters of each wards will elect a City Councilor and School Board member and election officers, including a Supervisor of the Checklist, Moderator, three Selectpersons, and a Ward Clerk. All elected positions are two-year terms that begin in January 2026. 

Sample Ballots

Absentee Ballots

Absentee ballots are now available for the Nov. 4, 2025 Municipal Election. Voters may apply for absentee ballots from the City Clerk's Office through Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, in the following ways: in-person at the City Clerk's Office, by mail, email, or fax.

The City Clerk's Office is in Dover City Hall's Customer Service Center on the ground floor. It is open Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Phone: 603-516-6018; fax: 603-516-6666; email: CityClerk@dover.nh.gov. The mailing address is 288 Central Avenue, Dover, NH 03820. 

Applications for an absentee ballot are available online and at the City Clerk's Office. State law allows absentee voting for voters who can’t attend the polls on Election Day due to religious observance, physical disability or employment, among other reasons. The definition of employment includes the care of children or adults, with or without compensation.

• 2025 Absentee Ballot Application

A new state law, RSA:17-c Verification of Absentee Ballot Applicant, became effective on Sept. 30, 2025. This law requires voters requesting an absentee ballot to verify their identity by one of the following methods: 

• Include a copy of their qualifying photo identification with their absentee ballot application;
• Personally present a qualifying photo identification to the City Clerk; or,
• Include a notarized signature on the absentee ballot application.

Qualifying photo identifications must meet the requirements of RSA 659:13, II(a). 

Deadline to return absentee ballots for General Election

Completed absentee ballots must be returned to the City Clerk by mail or in person.

• Deadline by mail: 5 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025.
• Deadline in person: By 5:30 p.m. the day before the election, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025.  

Checking absentee ballot status

To check to see if the Clerk’s Office has received your absentee ballot, visit https://app.sos.nh.gov/. It also allows voters to view their voter information and view polling places and sample ballots by address.

Candidates for Elected Office

The following people filed a written declaration with the City Clerk to appear on the Nov. 4, 2025 municipal ballot during the candidate filing period, held from Monday, Sept. 8 through Friday, Sept. 19, 2025.

Mayor

City Council

School Board

Supervisors of the Checklist

Selectpersons

Powers and duties of offices

The Mayor and City Council is the governing body of the City of Dover and set policies for the city government. As it states in the charter, the Mayor and Council "shall bear full responsibility for the implementation of said policies through the hiring and supervision of the City Manager." Duties include adopting ordinances, authorizing City of Dover expenditures of $25,000 or greater, adopting an annual budget and appointing members to all committees, boards and commissions, other than the School Board.

The School Board is the governing body of the City of Dover's School Department, which is School Administrative Unit 11. Per state law, the duty of the School Board is "to provide, at district expense, elementary and secondary education to all pupils who reside in the district until such time as the pupil has acquired a high school diploma or has reached age 21." It is responsible for establishing school policies and programs and determining the budgetary requirements of the schools. The School Board hires and supervises the Superintendent, tasked with managing the school district.

Election officers manage the election and have different responsibilities. 

• Supervisors of the Checklist are responsible for maintaining up-to-date voter checklist information for the ward to which they were elected following all applicable laws.
• Moderators are responsible for overseeing the election process at the polling place of the ward to which they were elected. Moderators also ensure all applicable laws and procedures are carried out and followed by all participants at the polling place.
• Ward Clerks performs whatever duties deemed necessary by the moderator, including verifying and recording ballot count information.
• Selectpersons are responsible for the "in" and "out" checklists at the polling place, including verifying voter information, handing out ballots, directing voters to booths, and any other duties deemed necessary by the moderator.

Compensation

City Councilors and School Board members receive a $1,000 annual salary as part of their compensation. The Mayor and Chair of the School Board receive an additional $200 per year, and the Deputy Mayor receives an additional $50 per year. Supervisors of the Checklist are compensated $222 per day, Moderators $250 per day, Selectpersons $9 per hour, and Ward Clerks $170 per day. Any elected official who chooses to volunteer may do so without compensation.

Qualifications 

Candidates must be duly qualified voters in the city. For Mayor and City Council positions, candidates must have lived in Dover for at least one year preceding the election. Candidates seeking a specific ward position must live in that ward. The City of Dover maintains a city map that visually represents Dover's ward boundaries and polling locations, among other municipal information. Chapter 17 of the city's code has a written description of ward boundaries. 

For more information, contact City Clerk Jerrica Vansylyvong-Bizier at 603-516-6018 or j.bizier@dover.nh.gov.