Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Make a sustaining gift today to support local journalism!

Sununu Vetoes Two Additional Bills, On Teacher Tenure and Election Security

Dennis Sylvester Hurd
/
Flickr Creative Commons

Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed two bills Friday, bringing to 57 the number of bills he's rejected this year - a modern record for vetoes by a New Hampshire governor. 

Click here to see a tally of all of Sununu's vetoes this year.
 
One bill would have shortened the period of time teachers in New Hampshire need to earn tenure, from five years to three years.

In a statement, Sununu said the bill would have made it harder for school districts to evaluate new teachers and replace low-performing ones.  Supporters of the bill, including New Hampshire's affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, said it would have brought the state more in line with neighboring states and made it easier to recruit new teachers to New Hampshire.

Sununu also vetoed a bill that would remove New Hampshire from a controversial interstate database intended to catch instances of double voting.

Election officials in New Hampshire have used the so-called Crosscheck system to identify a handful of cases of alleged voter fraud in recent years. But critics say Crosscheck is inefficient and frequently inaccurate in its approach to flagging potential cases of double voting. Several states have pulled out of the program in recent years, citing security concerns.

The vetoed bill would have allowed New Hampshire to find another program, besides Crosscheck, to review its voter lists.

But in a statement, Sununu said the bill would place "unreasonable restrictions" on the New Hampshire secretary of state's ability to determine the best system.

The Democratic-controlled Legislature has overturned just two of Sununu's nearly 60 vetoes this year.

Related Content

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.