Election Law

Republicans in the New Hampshire Senate voted to advance a bill Thursday that would add new identification requirements to the state’s absentee balloting process, over the objections of disability rights advocates and others who warned it would create unnecessary burdens on voters who cannot easily obtain the necessary documentation.

Right now, New Hampshire voters aren’t allowed to wear clothing or accessories advocating for or against a candidate, political party or measure on the ballot. Rep. John Potucek, a Derry Republican, is trying to change that — in part because of his own experience at the polls.

Gov. Chris Sununu has vetoed a bill to create an independent redistricting committee.

In his veto message, Sununu called gerrymandering rare in New Hampshire, and said lawmakers should have the right to determine their own process for drawing districts.

Gov. Chris Sununu has vetoed bills to create a paid family leave program, to expand absentee voting and to provide relief for people who have trouble making housing payments due to COVID-19, continuing a string of vetoes that has already set a record for a New Hampshire governor.

Three New Hampshire voters and a coalition of groups who advocate for people with disabilities are suing the state over its COVID-19 absentee registration and voting procedure. They allege that the state is denying voters with disabilities the equal opportunity to cast a private, independent absentee ballot without extra assistance.

The state Senate voted through two high-profile election law bills Monday: a proposal that makes it easier to vote absentee during the coronavirus pandemic, and a bill that creates an independent redistricting commission.

This story originally published when the state issued its first memo on COVID-19 election rules, on April 10. It was updated April 17 with additional information state election officials provided on the state's absentee voter registration process.

While many New Hampshire towns still count votes by hand, most of the state’s ballots are tallied by machines. A plan to check that those machines are counting votes correctly was the subject of debate before the House Election Law Committee Tuesday.

(Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include comments from the couple charged with the voting violations.)

A couple who split their time between New Hampshire and Massachusetts pled guilty on Monday to charges that they voted in both states during the November 2016 election, but they told NHPR they only did so to avoid prolonging an already onerous court battle with the state. 

Governor Chris Sununu has vetoed a bill that would have expanded absentee voting in New Hampshire.

State law now only allows people to vote by absentee ballot in limited circumstances, such as a work or caregiving obligation, or if a voter will be out of town on election day.

Gov. Chris Sununu has vetoed his 39th and 40th bills of the year. These bills aim to undo recent election law changes backed by the GOP.

Related: Click here for our veto tracker, which is detailing bills vetoed by Governor Chris Sununu

One bill, HB 105, aims to repeal the law known as Senate Bill 3.

A bill that would essentially repeal a controversial, Republican-backed election law passed the New Hampshire Senate on Thursday.

The bill, which has already passed the New Hampshire House, would roll back a two-year old law that requires new voters to show documentation they live in the state.

The law, known as SB 3, passed in 2017 and has since been the subject of lawsuits by Democrats and others who said it created unnecessary hurdles for new voters.

New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner is taking aim at two bills backed by Democrats to rollback laws passed by Republicans in recent years.

One would eliminate new steps in the voter registration process.

Another bill aims to make it easier for transient populations, like college students and members of the military, to vote here without running afoul of other state laws.

Officials with the New Hampshire Department of Motor Vehicles and the statewide organization representing town clerks are among those raising concerns about a new proposal that would allow people to start the voter registration process at the DMV.

New Hampshire Public Radio covered hundreds of stories in 2018. Some features captured how Granite Staters live and work. The opioid addiction crisis continued to make headlines - and claim lives. And political currents ran strong.

A Florida man is facing charges that he voted illegally in Hooksett during the 2016 general election.

The voter registration law known as Senate Bill 3 will stay in place through the upcoming midterms, after the New Hampshire Supreme Court on Friday overruled a lower court's order that would have put the law on hold.

A hearing to sort out voter registration rules for the upcoming midterms is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester.

Several “inadvertent data entry mistakes” by the Secretary of State's office are to blame for the 146 incorrect absentee ballots that were sent to voters in five New Hampshire towns, according to a review by the Attorney General’s office.

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office has charged two Hampton residents for allegedly voting in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts during the 2016 general election. But the couple involved say it was all just an "honest mistake" and they were blindsided by a barrage of media calls after the charges were announced. 

A hearing that could decide the fate of the voter registration law known as Senate Bill 3 began Aug. 27 in Manchester and continued for nearly two full weeks, concluding Sept. 7.

State officials are not challenging a federal judge's decision to strike down New Hampshire's "signature mismatch" procedures. Instead, they have instructed pollworkers not to compare a voter's handwriting on their absentee ballot with the handwriting used on their absentee ballot application.

With less than a month to go until the state primary election on Sept. 11, voters who register from this point forward have to follow a slightly different process than those who registered earlier in the year.