A federal judge on Thursday declared that New Hampshire’s 2024 law requiring first-time voters in the state to show proof of U.S. citizenship when they register is unconstitutional. The ruling is a major blow to a Republican-backed policy considered one of the strictest voter registration laws in the country.
“New Hampshire’s interest in election integrity cannot justify the burden on New Hampshire voters based on the evidence in this case,” said Judge Samantha Elliott in a 98-page ruling.
The decision goes into effect immediately, clearing the way for new voters who arrive at the polls without a birth certificate or U.S. passport to resume using a legally-binding affidavit to confirm their citizenship qualifications to vote.
The ruling follows a nine-day trial earlier this year, in which backers of the law were unable to provide conclusive proof that non-citizens were regularly participating in New Hampshire elections. Just one person in the past 26 years has been prosecuted for knowingly voting as a non-U.S. citizen, according to court testimony. A handful of other permanent residents with green cards were allowed to vote due to confusion by election officials.
“Such miniscule numbers strongly undercut any legitimate concern about election integrity vis-à-vis noncitizen voting and, consequently, the state’s interest in addressing it,” Elliott said in her ruling.
The legal challenge to House Bill 1569, which was signed into law by former Gov. Chris Sununu in 2024, came from a range of groups, including the League of Women Voters and New Hampshire Youth Movement, as well as the ACLU of New Hampshire.
It wasn't clear as of Friday morning if the New Hampshire Department of Justice will appeal the ruling.
In her ruling, Elliott said that the state’s removal of the "Qualified Voter Affidavit" form in 2024, which previously allowed new registrants to swear they were both U.S. citizens and residents of the community in which they were seeking to vote, made it harder to vote.
“A sworn affidavit capable of exposing an affiant to criminal prosecution is a method of proving citizenship and not an exception to that requirement,” she said. “Moreover, the evidence shows that it is the only method of proof available to a significant number of New Hampshire voters.”
During the trial, expert witnesses testified that nearly 40% of people don’t have a U.S. passport, and that another 2% of married women do not have a birth certificate that matches their married name.
Last year, state Republicans passed a law that made it easier for local election officials to look up a voter's vital records — including place of birth — if they arrived at the polling place without certain documents. But the plaintiffs said the state would be understaffed on Election Day to handle a wave of requests for birth certificates and drivers licenses.
New Hampshire is one of the few states in the nation that allows people to register to vote at the polls. On Election Day in 2024, more than 10,000 first-time voters used an affidavit to register to vote, according to data presented during the trial.
Critics of the system warn that the state has little opportunity to fully investigate such a large number of voters, who could lie about their citizenship or residency on the form.
But top state officials — including Sununu and Rep. Bob Lynn, who authored the legislation — have stressed that the state’s election system is secure and that there is no widespread fraud. Elliott, in her ruling, noted that even the state’s top election official, New Hampshire Sec. of State David Scanlan, “testified that noncitizen voting is essentially non-existent in New Hampshire.”
