Election advocates seek no-excuse absentee voting
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Feb. 13—CONCORD — Nonpartisan election advocates said allowing no-excuse absentee ballot voting would increase voter turnout and help citizens who fail to fit into the legal reasons one can vote this way under existing law.
But Secretary of State David Scanlan said any permanent expansion for absentee ballot use would require the Legislature endorse and then a super majority of statewide voters agree to change the state constitution.
"Somebody waking up in the morning and deciding I just don't feel like it (voting in person) doesn't qualify under our constitution," Scanlan told the Senate Election Laws and Municipal Affairs Committee.
Senate Democratic Leader Donna Soucy of Manchester said a record 31% — or more than 250,000 people — voted by absentee in 2020 after the Legislature had approved a one-time exemption for anyone concerned about COVID-19.
"This is not a matter of convenience, it is not a matter of trying to enact an early voting system," said Soucy about her bill (SB 536).
"It is about time New Hampshire recognize there are specific reasons why people would rather choose to vote by absentee."
Olivia Zink, executive director of Open Democracy Now, said the 36 states that allow this practice do not have higher rates of voter fraud than New Hampshire has.
"This is a non-partisan policy, and it helps both (major) political parties," Zink said.
The New Hampshire Campaign for Voting Rights also backed the change that all 10 state Senate Democrats signed onto along with House Democratic Leader Matt Wilhelm of Manchester and his top assistants.
DNC pushed change
In November 2022, the Democratic National Committee decided to award South Carolina the first certified primary of the 2024 calendar.
The DNC offered to let New Hampshire hold the second contest along with Nevada, four days after South Carolina, but only if lawmakers repealed New Hampshire's first primary law and made no-excuse absentee voting legal.
Gov. Chris Sununu called the offer "extortion" and leaders of both political parties here condemned the offer.
Scanlan ignored the DNC calendar while setting New Hampshire's primary 11 days before South Carolina and the Republican-led Legislature killed no-excuse absentee voting bills in 2023.
Current law allows anyone to vote by absentee ballot if they are disabled or won't be able to make it to the polls due to work, religious reasons or caring for an infirmed child or family member.
The law also permits a voter to ask for an absentee ballot the night before if there's a weather report of a dangerous storm on the day of the election.
Soucy brought forward Tuesday a second bill (SB 537) Manchester City Clerk Matt Normand sought to permit any city or town to begin the process of examining, but not counting, absentee ballots earlier than currently allowed.
State law permits local officials to start pre-processing absentee ballots two hours after polls open on Election Day.
Soucy's bill would permit city and town officials to start the process on the Thursday before the Tuesday election.
Scanlan said his office can support moving up the start of this process to help communities deal with large turnouts such as the day of a presidential primary or presidential election.
Soucy said she will work with Senate Committee Chairman James Gray, R-Rochester, and Scanlan's office to come up with compromise language.
