CONCORD, NH – The New Hampshire Campaign for Voting Rights urges the New Hampshire House Election Law Committee to pass House Bill 1772, allowing residents to register to vote online.
“By passing online voter registration, the New Hampshire legislature has an opportunity to put their money where their mouths are, and show a real commitment to safe, secure election systems,” said America Votes State Director Liz Wester. “Online voter registration already exists in 38 other states and will help us maintain clean voter rolls while making increasing access to registration to all Granite Staters, even in the most rural areas.”
The bill does not change current registration standards. Follow-up letters would still need to be sent by towns and cities by e-mail, text or mail to voters who register on-line and fail to provide sufficient evidence of domicile, age, citizenship and identity. Voters would be able to respond via camera/smart phone, scanner and e-mail, fax, mail, at the clerk’s office or face-to-face on election day.
Highlights
- The bill only requires the Secretary of State to match the name and date of birth of the drivers’ license holder to confirm the individual has a license with the DMV. It is possible, but not anticipated, that verification of citizenship available at the DMV could be matched using on-line registration. Because the bill would establish on-line registration as the equivalent of absentee registration in law, no on-line registrants would be asked to sign a qualified voter affidavit necessitating a follow-up letter with an enclosed post card for the newly registered applicant to return.
- 60 percent of on-line applicants will require electronic communication for rejection and confirmation from the State and 40 percent will require mailed communication from the cities and towns.
- The State’s ElectioNet system would need to be programmed to include a new ID number field linkable to a voter ID field for each new applicant.
- The Department’s information technology staff would need to establish a secure environment to receive on-line applications from the public.
- A functional interface for mobile devices would be created to permit submittals via smart phones or equivalent devices.
About America Votes
The New Hampshire Campaign for Voting Rights is a project of America Votes and a coalition of state and national advocacy organizations, voters, attorneys, watchdog organizations working to ensure and preserve the right to vote for every Granite Stater.
