I. One copy of the election return shall be forwarded by the town or ward clerk to the secretary of state in both paper and electronic form no later than 8:00 a.m. on the day following a state election unless the secretary of state orders them at a different time and date. The other shall be kept by the town or city clerk in accordance with N.H. Rev. Stat. § 33-A:3-a and shall be open to public inspection at reasonable times. If an official state election return is sealed along with the ballots, the clerk having custody of the sealed ballots shall, at the request of the secretary of state, and in the presence of a state election official, unseal the ballots and retrieve the election return. The ballots shall be immediately resealed and the election return shall be delivered to the secretary of state by the election official.
II. For a city or town that uses an AccuVote electronic ballot counting device in a state election, the town or ward clerk shall print and forward a paper copy of the long report tape to the secretary of state with the return of votes form and shall keep a paper copy of the long report tape with the paper return of votes form that is retained by the town or city clerk in accordance with paragraph I.