Sununu signs strict NH voter ID law, takes effect after 2024 election

Gov. Chris Sununu signed a bill Thursday that requires identification to vote without exceptions and hard proof of U.S. citizenship for first-time New Hampshire voters to register, a major reversal of his earlier position against it.

“We have a proud tradition and proven track record of conducting elections that are trusted and true,” he said in a statement. “Looking forward to the next decade or two, this legislation will instill even more integrity and trust in the voting process.”

HB 1569 requires voters to produce a photo ID on Election Day or be barred from voting. It eliminates the current law that allows people who show up to vote without photo ID to sign an affidavit attesting to their identity under penalty of perjury.

And it requires that people voting in New Hampshire for the first time produce documentary evidence of their U.S. citizenship through a passport, birth certificate, or other document in order to register to vote.

The bill will take effect Nov. 11, and will not affect the upcoming Nov. 5 general election.

Republicans have said the bill is a straightforward way to ensure all voters are who they say they are and have U.S. citizenship without allowing them to attest to it on an affidavit and potentially lie. Democrats say the bill will disenfranchise voters who do not have birth certificates, passports, or other documents proving their citizenship and cannot get those documents in time, and argue it violates constitutionally protected voting rights.

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Sununu’s decision to sign the bill is a change in position. For months, as HB 1569 advanced through the legislative process, Sununu suggested he would not support it, stating multiple times that he was “not looking into making significant changes in voting laws.”

“I think our system works well, we have really high voter turnout, the affidavit ballot and process seems to be working pretty darn well,” he said in March.

In the interview in Concord Thursday just after the Republican Unity Breakfast, Sununu acknowledged his previous skepticism of the bill. “I didn’t love it,” he said. But he added that that position has changed.

“What I’m looking at isn’t just what it means for today. I think right now, our elections are run very, very well. They’re secure. People have a lot of faith in them,” he said. “There’s no doubt about that. But what I am looking at is down the road, right, and making sure that, again, anything you can do, even when something is strong, if you can make it better – if you can make it stronger.

“I’m trying to appreciate, you know, making sure that for the next 10, 20 years, folks know that again, those provisions are in place. Everyone agrees you need it. You should have an ID to vote. It’s secure. It’s safe.”

Voting rights groups quickly assailed the decision

“This extreme legislation signed by the Governor will roll back voting access for all eligible Granite Staters,” said McKenzie St. Germain, campaign director for the New Hampshire Campaign for Voting Rights. “Once this law goes into effect later this year, any voter may be turned away from the polls if they did not have the correct documents, creating massive new changes to New Hampshire’s registration system, burdening our election officials, and disenfranchising eligible voters.”

Earlier in the summer, Sununu had expressed concerns that if he signed the bill, it could disrupt the 2024 presidential election by adding confusing new requirements. But Senate President Jeb Bradley delayed sending Sununu the bill until Sept. 9, meaning that the legislation, which has a 60-day implementation delay, will now not take effect until after the Nov. 5 election.

That delay cleared a major sticking point for Sununu, he said Thursday; now the earliest elections the bill would affect are town meetings in March. On Thursday morning, he said his office was still assessing the law before he made a final decision over signing it.

“We’re looking to make sure that, again, it would pass any legal muster or anything like that, making sure that it was designed the right way,” he said. He announced he had signed it Thursday afternoon.

Some groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire and the Disability Rights Center, urged Sununu to veto the bill this week, arguing it could prevent marginalized voters, voters with disabilities, and others who have misplaced or lost their citizenship documents from voting.

On Thursday, Sununu, who called that rhetoric “fearmongering” said the concerns over disenfranchisement are unfounded.

“My argument is this: To say that somehow people can’t get identification and documents, in this day and age, 2024, we don’t do anything without documentation nowadays,” he said. “That’s absolutely required for a variety of different instances in our everyday lives. And this is no different.”

This story was originally published by New Hampshire Bulletin.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Sununu signs strict NH voter ID law, takes effect after 2024 election