Candidates who've been campaigning in New Hampshire for months will find out this week when they'll be able to officially sign up for the first-in-the-nation presidential primaries.
Secretary of State Bill Gardner says he will announce the dates of the 2020 filing period early this week. During the roughly 12-day period, candidates or their representatives sign paperwork in Gardiner's office and pay $1,000 to get on the ballot.
Gardner has not yet set a date for the primaries, but barring attempts by other states to leap ahead, he's expected to pick Feb. 11, eight days after the Iowa caucuses.
For the 2016 election, he waited until eight weeks before the Feb. 9 primary to officially set the date. The filing period for that election ran from Nov. 4-20.
