Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Proof Of Citizenship topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Subcommittee debates whether federal law limits New Hampshire's proof-of-citizenship rules
Summary
Members of the House Election Law Subcommittee discussed whether the National Voter Registration Act and related federal case law limit New Hampshire's recent proof-of-citizenship requirement, and heard testimony about enforcement, privacy and practical impacts on voters.
The House Election Law Subcommittee on Voter Registration and Impacts of Nonresident Voting discussed whether federal rules on voter registration limit New Hampshire's authority to require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship.
The issue arose as members reviewed several bills that would change state registration requirements, and while the subcommittee's chair said New Hampshire historically has an exemption from parts of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), witnesses and other members urged careful legal review and attention to practical effects on voters.
Why it matters: Subcommittee members said any conflict between state law and federal statutes would be dispositive for federal elections. Representative C, chair of the subcommittee, summarized the legal tension: "if the section of the National Voter Registration Act that allows a person to satisfy the U.S. citizenship requirements simply by signing an affidavit... applies to New Hampshire, then under the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, we could not not comply with that. At least for federal elections, we could not not comply with that." The remark framed whether New Hampshire's statutory proof-of-citizenship requirement can be enforced for federal contests.
Testimony and concerns: Mike O'Brien of Party Strategies, representing America Votes, told the panel that university residency rules complicate any effort to link state voter domicile to third-party determinations such as in-state tuition. O'Brien quoted the University of New Hampshire website: "residency is determined at the time of admission for degree students," and said tying voting eligibility to a university's residency determinations could deny people the right to vote even when they have a physical presence in New Hampshire.
An ACLU witness (identified in the record as Mr. Clementowicz) raised enforcement and privacy concerns about using tax filings or dependent claims to prove domicile, saying tax documentation may not be under a voter's control and could raise confidentiality problems.
Operational impact: Witnesses and members also described recent election-day experiences after enactment of New Hampshire's proof-of-citizenship measure. Mike O'Brien told the panel his organization had observers in the field and "we are aware of 46 voters that were turned away" at a recent town-meeting election; he said observers were only at a subset of polling places and that the true number could be higher. The panel also heard that in other states the introduction of strict documentary proof requirements led to thousands of prospective registrants being turned away in the short term.
Next steps: The subcommittee chair asked members to send suggested amendments and legal questions to staff for consolidation. Members debated whether to adopt a verbal subcommittee report to the full committee before Tuesday's executive session, or to complete a written report afterward; a follow-up meeting was tentatively scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday to finalize materials.
Ending: The panel agreed to continue work on a concise subcommittee report and on potential bill amendments, and to coordinate with the secretary of state and legal researchers to clarify how federal NVRA provisions and relevant case law apply to New Hampshire's registration statutes.
