NH AG’s Office To DNC: ‘Meaningless’ Comment About The Primary Is ‘Voter Suppression’

CONCORD, NH — The state’s attorney general’s office has sent a cease-and-desist order to the Democratic National Committee after a letter from members of the rules committee called the Jan. 23 first-in-the-nation presidential primary “meaningless.”

The report by Politico and forwarded here by the New Hampshire Journal featured a Jan. 5 letter to Ray Buckley, the chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, from two members of the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee. In the letter, they warned Buckley that no delegates or alternatives could be apportioned and no events related to delegates or alternatives could be scheduled based on the results of the primary.

“The NHDP must take steps to educate the public that January 23rd is a non-binding presidential preference event and is meaningless and the NHDP and presidential candidates should take all steps possible not to participate,” the letter stated.

The letter, signed by Minyon Moore and James Roosevelt Jr., said New Hampshire Democrats were told in December its plan to hold a primary anyway was “non-compliant” with the DNC. The non-compliant processes “can disenfranchise and confuse voters,” they wrote.

In the cease-and-desist order, Brendan O’Donnell, an assistant attorney general and the Election Law Unit Chief for the NH DOJ, said comments in the letter by Moore and Roosevelt ordering the state party to “educate the public” and stating the primary was “meaningless” violated the state’s voter suppression laws. Specifically, he pointed to RSA 659:40, III and RSA 629.2, which prohibits anyone from commanding, soliciting, or requesting another person to engage in criminal conduct. The first provision bars anyone from preventing or deterring anyone “from voting or registering to vote based on fraudulent, deceptive, misleading or spurious grounds or information.”

O’Donnell wrote, “Regardless of whether the DNC refuses to award delegates to the party’s national convention based on the results of the January 23, 2024, New Hampshire Democratic Presidential Primary Election, that election is not ‘meaningless.’ Your statements to the contrary are false, deceptive, and misleading.” He added the matter remained “open,” and the NH DOJ reserved the right to “take further enforcement action,” if needed.

The action by O’Donnell was issued hours after 74 House Republicans, including House Speaker Sherman Packard, called on the attorney general to act, pointing to several provisions in state law the letter violated.

Buckley did not return an email seeking comment about the cease-and-desist order.

State Rep. Joe Sweeney, R-Salem, a House majority floor leader, said he found the letter “deeply concerning” and a violation of state law.

“We've documented instances within the DNC’s communication that we believe warrant scrutiny and public attention,” he said. “Our state deserves the respect it has earned through its long-standing tradition of civic engagement. We’ll continue to fight to ensure that the voices of our citizens are heard and that our electoral integrity remains intact.”

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