House approves 30-day voting delay

On Wednesday, May 11 the state House of Representatives voted in favor of SB 4, a bill that requires a voter to live in New Hampshire at least thirty days before voting in an election.

Bill supporters want to stop the practice of "drive-by" voting, in which campaign workers from out-of-state declare New Hampshire as their domicile for a short time, then leave after the election. 

Speaking on behalf of the Election Law Committee, Rep. Adam Schroadter reported, "Testimony included surprisingly high statistics of voters registering in New Hampshire with out- of-state drivers’ licenses and verified cases of drive-by-voting from the Department of Justice."

Bill opponents argue that the thirty day requirement will deprive legitimate voters of the right to vote.

Gov. Maggie Hassan vetoed a similar bill, SB 179, in 2015.  At the time she wrote, "Restricting the rights of those who are constitutionally eligible to vote with a durational requirement does nothing to prevent people from lying about where they live, it merely denies people who recently moved to New Hampshire and are lawful residents of our state their fundamental right to vote."

When we asked the LFDA community about SB 179 last year, a majority favored a thirty day residency requirement.  Click here to read the results of that conversation.

Do you support a thirty day delay before someone is eligible to vote in New Hampshire?  Let us know in the comments.