Senate sustains governor’s veto of bill limiting public employees’ electioneering; override fails 24–0

The New Hampshire Senate on an unstated date sustained the governor’s veto of Senate Bill 213, refusing to enact the measure that would have restricted electioneering by public employees and revised aspects of absentee voting.

Senators sustained the veto in a roll-call vote shown in the journal entries included in the session: 24 opposed overturning the veto, none recorded in favor. The clerk read the governor’s veto message before the question was called.

Supporters of sustaining the veto said the bill’s language was overly broad and could criminalize ordinary behavior by public employees. “This bill was a solution looking for a problem,” said Senator Perkins Quoca, who urged colleagues to respect public employees and avoid imposing vague criminal penalties. “If we put such vague, unsophisticated language into law, the only way our…