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N.H. Bill Seeks to Help Better Flag Potential Illegal Voting

Allegra Boverman for NHPR

A Windham lawmaker is hoping to rewrite New Hampshire's election laws in an effort to prevent what he calls potential voter fraud.

One of his proposals received some pushback Wednesday particularly from those who would have to abide by one specific change to current law.  

The bill, sponsored by Rep. David Bates, focuses on voters who present out-of-state licenses or IDs at the polls. Bates' measure would require officials to enter those voters' information into the statewide voter registration database. 

Bates argues this would be a way to flag those who may be voting illegally from out of state. 

But the state and local election officials say the current system works well and stressed that collecting this data would come at a cost.

“This bill as written would add considerable time into the entry into the database and for larger municipalities like in Nashua we would not be able to make the 30-day deadline,” Nashua City Clerk Tricia Piecuch told lawmakers. 

New Hampshire law requires voters to show a valid ID before casting a ballot. While only state residents can vote, out of state drivers' licenses and military IDs are accepted forms of identification.

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