For years, non-residents have voted in New Hampshire by claiming they lived here and singing an affidavit with no teeth. They were rarely investigated or followed up, and the votes tipped elections all across the state. The Legislature added teeth to the law last year, and the lawsuits followed.
Several individual voter and advocacy groups filed lawsuits last year, days after Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed the bill into law. They argued that it violates the right to privacy the state added to its constitution in 2018 because it would diminish the secrecy of ballots and tie voters’ names to the candidates for whom they voted. But a judge recently granted a request from the secretary of state and attorney general to dismiss the cases.
SB418 can prevent some of the helicopter voting we experience from nearby states, but it does not address the issue of out-of-state students voting in our elections. SB418 allows any valid student ID as proof of residency. It’s not much of an improvement, but the Republicans got it passed and into law, and it does meet the criteria of incrementalism. And it stood up to a court challenge on – get this, lack of standing.
In an order made public Friday, Merrimack County Judge Charles Temple agreed with the defendants that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the law.
The individual plaintiffs already are registered to vote and thus can’t argue the changes will harm them, he said. And they don’t have standing as taxpayers objecting to the expenditure of public funds, he said, because the law doesn’t appropriate money.
They would need an out-of-state resident to file, which sounds ridiculous because it is. How do you claim to have standing as a non-resident voter who might be voting in New Hampshire in a future election if they happen to move here?
By my reckoning, that’s proof enough to justify the law, and while we’ll take the win, I doubt this is over. Someone will find a way to come at this because there is no way they want this on the books.
