CONCORD – House Speaker William O’Brien (R-Mont Vernon) and House Majority Leader Pete Silva (R-Nashua) today offered the following comments in response to the state receiving federal approval of Senate Bill 318. The law, which was passed over Governor Lynch’s veto, clarifies that to vote in New Hampshire, an individual must be a resident of New Hampshire. The law also requires the Secretary of State and Attorney General to follow up on any individual who registers to vote without providing his or her identity.
House Speaker William O’Brien
“A fundamental premise of having elections that reflect the will of the citizens of a community or a state is that those who vote should be those who live in the city or town, and certainly the state, in which they are voting. This commonsense law simply clarifies what should be obvious to all of us – people should vote where they live. We are appreciative that the federal Department of Justice has now approved this, as well as all of the other election-related laws that the Legislature has passed. It is a testament to the careful thought and planning that has gone into all of the work that we have put into these steps to restore integrity to the voting process.”
House Majority Leader Pete Silva
“This bill goes a long way to undoing the damage that the Democrats did to our voting laws in their efforts to create a permissive environment that was ripe for voter fraud. We have made huge strides to give our citizens the confidence that the strength of their votes has not been diluted by the types of shenanigans that takes place in other states, and which was placed front and center for all of us from the videos of dead people being allowed to vote in the presidential primary. Frankly, I’m surprised that the Obama administration didn’t try to block this, since it will make it harder for them to try to steal elections here, but they undoubtedly realized that the backlash from New Hampshire residents would be even worse for them.”