Tag: Poll Tax

Here is the problem with crying “poll tax” in a crowded dorm.

September 26, 2018July 13, 2018

After decades of accepting non-citizens votes as equal to a qualified citizen’s vote, the New Hampshire State Supreme Court has acknowledged in its recent opinion that one must be domiciled in New Hampshire to vote here. This means that being domiciled in our state carries certain responsibilities – the same responsibilities as that of any other citizen.

Get ready for the “poll tax” debate! Proponents of non-resident voting will drag out a pathetic argument sure to stimulate the naive. Here is the argument:

Obtaining an NH driver’s license when declaring NH your voting domicile is the same as a poll tax.

OK, let’s take the poll tax debate head-on.

NH GOP – a riff on the E-board angst reported by DiStaso

September 26, 2018December 11, 2012

by Skip

I had bookmarked the Dec 4 version of the UL’s DiStazo’s column which discussed the $25 fee that the NH GOP was looking to impose upon the new State Committee members (which I labeled a “poll tax” because it was set to be collected in order to vote for the new officers of the NH GOP and whatever business needed to be attended to. Sure, I’m a bit late, but because I seemingly fit into NH GOP Finance Chair Jim Foley’s “so-called journalist” category, I had a few thoughts (reformatted to save space):

NHGOP finance chairman Jim Foley opposed rescinding the fee. “This drives me crazy,” he wrote in an email reply to MacDonald. “Why, when there is some push-back, do we cave in?” wrote Foley, who also chairs the Derry Republican Committee. “This decision was made by unanimous vote of the executive committee after much discussion and with the idea of getting a more committed state committee member. We deliberately imposed no sanction for failure to pay this fee.

And we out in the hinterlands (as Kevin Landrigan says) are supposed to simply nod our heads

“Who are these complaints coming from? Very few new state committee members have been elected. The Derry committee has been chosen and we have heard no issues about this fee.”

Foley wrote that the two candidates for state chairman are “pandering to what they perceive will be their supporters, and so-called journalists who always try to stir things, creating a controversy where none exists.”

He suggested the state party send an email “that makes it clear our reasoning behind the request for the fee and that there are no consequences for failure to pay the fee.”

He said he does not believe a special meeting is necessary.

Of course not; after all, he’s on the E-Board! As he wrote here:

NH GOP: And I thought a “poll tax” was illegal!

September 26, 2018November 30, 2012

by Skip

I overlooked this announcement (on which Steve is busy writing a post on as well, I see) when it first came in – someone else emailed in on this and my head whipped around. File this “what were they thinking” OR “the Five Families were planning ahead, eh?“:

Important Notice on the 2013 Annual Meeting

The State Executive Committee has voted unanimously to charge $25 to all State Committee Members to attend the 2013 Annual Meeting (below is brief summary from that discussion)

This can be done before or at the Annual Meeting The 2013 Annual Meeting will be held at Bedford High School on January 26th

Any question please call the State Party at 225-9341 or email info@nhgop.org

Rest of the notice after the jump. Oh, the “Five Families” of the NH GOP. Of course you know that things have gone out of control when the Chair of the NH Democrat Party, Ray Buckley, has a public comment on the brouhaha now coming to a boil over the NH Republican Chair Race. So, context by what Mike wrote last night (emphasis mine):

Only hours earlier, DiStaso reported that several others had considered and then stepped aside, but that Cliff Hurst, who rejuvenated the Manchester GOP, and who guided the success of the blowout NHGOP victory dinner earlier this year, was in the running. Hmmm. What a difference a few hours makes – what could have happened? No need to risk losing an election and having to deal with the messy business of toppling the chairman after the fact, if you can mount a smear and fear campaign in advance, and drive your opponent out of the race ahead of time. You see, Cliff Hurst is no newcomer to politics, is good at fundraising, and is happy to criss-cross the state meeting with town committees – he might just win if not neutralized immediately.

The smears – Cliff Hurst started getting phone calls from friends that the word on the street was that he had become senile. The money drying up – Andy Leach called Cliff from Ayotte’s office to advise that, if Cliff won, there would be no help whatsoever forthcoming from DC, just as had happened to Jack Kimball in 2011.