New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan is pushing back against President Trump’s executive order that would give the federal government greater control over local elections, including more access to voter data and restrictions on mail-in voting.
Trump has called on election officials across the country to work with the Department of Homeland Security to compile lists of every U.S. citizen in each state who is eligible to vote. He has also instructed the U.S. Postal Service to send mail-in ballots only to verified voters.
The Constitution gives individual states the power to determine the time, place, and manner of federal elections, and Congress has the power to enact changes.
In a statement Wednesday, Scanlan said he intends to maintain that oversight at the state level.
“New Hampshire has long exercised that authority in a manner that ensures elections are secure, transparent, and trustworthy,” Scanlan said in a statement.
New Hampshire requires absentee voters to meet one of several state-approved conditions, and as of September of last year, absentee voters must provide photo identification, as well as age and domicile information, to receive a ballot. Anyone registering to vote for the first time, including absentee voters, must also provide proof of U.S. citizenship.
“The Federal Government cannot usurp New Hampshire’s express constitutional authority to run elections and cannot compel New Hampshire to violate state and federal election statutes,” Scanlan said, “including those that protect the privacy of voter information.”
This latest move by the Trump administration comes amid an ongoing legal dispute between the federal government and New Hampshire election officials.
Last September, the Trump administration sued New Hampshire and several other states for access to voter information, after Scanlan and other secretaries of state refused to turn over confidential voting records.
In February, New Hampshire election officials and a bipartisan group of residents asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit. The federal government has not yet responded.
