The battle over the ballot box continued in the New Hampshire House Thursday when Republicans pushed through a bill ending any exceptions to the state’s voter ID requirements and mandating people prove both their citizenship and place of domicile when they register.
Under current law, people who show up to register to vote on Election Day are allowed to cast “affidavit ballots.” They then have seven days to provide the required proof of their claim regarding identity and address. If they do not, their vote will be deducted from the Election Day total.
During a hearing in February, the bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Bob Lynn (R-Windham), said the current system simply didn’t make sense.
“It seems to me that it is not a good system that allows someone, where you’re supposed to have all this stuff, the documentation in the four areas, (to be) able to say, in effect, ‘Well, I don’t have that, but I swear that that is all true,’” Lynn said at the time. “And we just sort of have to accept that.”
During Thursday’s debate on the House floor, Rep. Connie Lane (D-Concord) called the proposal “unconstitutional” and claimed it “would take away our most important right – the right to vote – from thousands of New Hampshire citizens.”
She added the affidavit repeal, if advanced, would likely be enacted ahead of September’s state primary, causing “upheaval in our fall elections.”
State Rep. Ross Berry (R-Manchester), chair of the House Election Law Committee, countered that the proposal would “cause an upheaval of joy” as New Hampshire would be joining other states that require voters to produce identification to vote.
Polls show Americans overwhelmingly support mandates that would-be voters present a photo ID.
The ACLU of New Hampshire called the proposal “an attack on one of our most fundamental rights” and added, “Lawmakers should not be creating unnecessary barriers to access the ballot.”
Gov. Chris Sununu has also expressed reservations, saying New Hampshire’s current election system “works fine as it is.”
State Rep. Robert Wherry (R-Hudson) quoted the theme song from the television show “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” which features The Who’s hit song “Who Are You.” He argued providing proof of identity is already part of most Granite Staters’ daily lives.
“When you apply for a business license, serve on jury duty, purchase real estate, purchase a car, rent a car, house, or domicile, or purchase a firearm, they ask, ‘Who are you?'” Wherry said.
“When you cross the northern border – at least – they ask, ‘Who are you?’” he added, prompting some chuckling from other members. “This commonsense bill simply asks voters to do what they’ve already done in so many other places – answer the question, who are they?”
“Do-do, do-do support this bill.”
A narrow majority of members did, by an 189-185 margin.
