NH GOP Creates Electoral Reform Petition

The New Hampshire Republican State Committee has launched an online petition drive encouraging voters in the Granite State to support election law reform including a new bill, which would re-institute a residency requirement to vote.

Republicans say that the bill, SB 179, introduced by state Sen. Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, will curb “drive-by voting” that some – like Secretary of State Bill Gardner – believe has become a major problem in the state.

“People who vote in New Hampshire should live in New Hampshire,” said NHGOP Chairman Jennifer Horn in a statement promoting the drive. “This petition is an effort to educate the public on the importance of election law and to gather support for the passage of this critical legislation. Gov. Hassan and her Democratic colleagues should rise above political partisanship and support this commonsense legislation to ensure the integrity of our elections.”

The bill would add a 30 day domicile qualification to the existing voting laws similar to what was required to register to vote in New Hampshire as recently as a decade ago. Carson said the changes would eliminate confusion about who can and cannot vote legally in the state.

Gardner, a registered Democrat who has the respect of both sides of the political aisle, has been vocal in recent years about the need to tighten the state’s election laws, after witnessing a vote fraud incident in 2008 where AmeriCorps volunteers who were from other states requested ballots during that year’s presidential election, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.

While there has only been one recent vote fraud case prosecuted – a Massachusetts man who was registered there and in New Hampshire and voted during two recent federal elections – the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office is still eyeing thousands of voter affidavits from the 2012 election cycle, looking for potential voter fraud.

SB 179 was approved in the Senate in March and sent to the House.

At the time, Senate Democrats challenged the law, suggesting it was an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote.

“This bill will only serve to further complicate the voting process for New Hampshire citizens. SB 179 proposes a new standard for what constitutes a domicile that is more confusing and less concise than the current law,” said state Sen. Bette Lasky, D-Nashua said at the time. “Voters need consistency and clarity when it comes to eligibility standards and this bill fails that test.”