If you are a New Hampshire election official, we invite you to join a coalition of other NH election officials including Supervisors of the Checklist, moderators, clerks, and other election administrators across the state in adding your name to the following letter opposing HB 1569. Please note that this letter will also be released publicly.
If you have questions or would like more information about HB 1569, please reach out to Kelsey Fisk at kfisk@americavotes.org. To add your name to this letter, please fill out the following form. Someone will reach out to you to confirm you'd like your name added as written.
You can read the full letter below:
"
Dear Election Law Committee, We thank you for your support of our democracy and for carefully considering legislation pertaining to our elections. As election administrators, we are opposed to House Bill 1569 , which would remove any options for voters to prove identification should they not have proof of identity, age, or domicile, or citizenship when registering to vote.
As election officials tasked with operating elections in our communities, we know that New Hampshire has safe and secure elections. Under current election law, voters without proof of domicile or citizenship must sign an affidavit to vote – a powerful legally binding document with serious consequences in cases of abuse. This system has shown to be safe and secure time and again, and no past circumstances suggest that affidavits are being misused in our elections. Further, under SB 418 that was passed just three years ago, a new voter needs proof of identity or to provide proof of identity within 7 days. Simply put, House Bill 1569 is in search of a problem that does not exist.
HB 1569 would establish a needless barrier to voting through the removal of the only safeguard Granite Staters have to protect their right to vote if they don’t have or forgot any of the required registration documents. This legislation, if enacted, could cost any voter their right to register and vote simply due to not having documents or forgetting documents. A voter without a passport, birth certificate, or naturalization papers would be denied their right to register if they were unknowingly removed from the voter checklist or registering in New Hampshire for the first time. This extreme legislation is an attack on every Granite Staters’ right to vote.
Beyond compromising voters’ confidence in our already secure elections, this legislation could cost any voter their right to vote, irrespective of their eligibility. We work hard to ensure that New Hampshire's elections are safe and secure so that Granite Staters have confidence in our election process and its results. No voter should have their right to vote stripped away because they were removed from the voter rolls inadvertently or through a purge of the voter rolls. As the local officials who know our state's elections better than anyone, we strongly urge you to oppose this legislation.
We thank you for your leadership and commitment to protecting our democracy. We, in turn, will continue to advocate for our local communities. We are counting on you to help us protect Granite Staters’ rights by opposing House Bill 1569.
Signed,"
