New Hampshire Senate Requires Voters To Prove Citizenship

Republican-led New Hampshire senate approves legislation revoking all exceptions on the state’s voter ID law on Thursday. 

House Bill 1569 motions to require all voters to present proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, before they can enter the polling place. 

Senator James Gray (R-Rochester) remarked, “Confidence in our elections means that you have found that the person that confronted you, asking you for that ballot is qualified to vote. They are a citizen.”

The current election law of the state allows voters to register even without presenting a photo ID and can vote if they sign an affidavit or a written statement vowing to be a citizen, which is called the affidavit ballot. 

The bill now waits for Governor Chris Sununu to approve the legislation.

Sununu, however, earlier claimed that he is not keen on making any “significant changes” especially amid election season. 

“So any bill that got to my desk would have to be fulfilling a clear need of the system. Overall our election system in New Hampshire works really, really well,” he added.

The proposed changes also demand the Secretary of State’s Office to work with other state agencies, such as the Attorney General’s Office, the Division of Motor Vehicles, and “any other agencies” to provide real-time verification of voter data during the elections. 

Sen. Gray, who also serves as chairman of the House Election Law Committee and House Finance Committee, remarked that the Finance Committee is prepared to make compromises to deal with disenfranchisement compromises. 

“We’ll pass the bill as it is, and then we’ll take it to Finance, and then later in this session, we will take up an easier-to-vote section that would help,” Gray pressed.

Secretary of State David Scanlan weighed in on the motion during an interview with News 9 and said that he’s not planning to make a stand on the bill. 

Should Scanlan decide on the legislation, this could be very influential to Sununu. 

“Secretary of State Scanlan and I work very, very well together,” Sununu remarked. 

“They’re the real experts in this, and if there’s a need – I don’t want to say I’ll completely defer to them, but I really lean on their expertise in this area.”

The move in New Hampshire is also well-appreciated on social media.

One X user wrote, “Nice to see New Hampshire Senate taking a pretty basic step here and requiring new voters to provide proof of citizenship.”

Gunter Eagleman added, “Voter ID should be mandatory in all 50 states.”