CONCORD – House Republican Leader Dick Hinch (R-Merrimack) issued a statement following the House vote on HB105, and HB 106, which repeal common sense election laws that were recently enacted.
HB105 relative to domicile residency, voter registration, and investigation of voter verification letters attempts to reverse provisions in law made by SB3 (2017), and HB 106, relative to the terms “resident,” “inhabitant,” “residence,” and “residency”, seeks to reverse changes in law made by HB1264 (2018).
HB105 passed by a vote of 209-155.
HB106 passed by a vote of 213-154.
“The mantra from Democrats is that they want clean and fair elections, but their legislation suggests they only want to remove reasonable provisions of our laws that provide for cleaner and fairer elections. I am deeply disappointed that Democrats did not see through the conspiracies, misleading information, and classic fear mongering perpetuated by proponents of these bills,” said Hinch. “HB106 seeks to repeal common sense legislation that the State just enacted in 2018. Just this past July, the NH Supreme Court issued an advisory opinion on HB1264 stating there is nothing unconstitutional about requiring individuals to make a choice as to where they are residents.”
“Similarly, HB105 seeks to repeal much of what the State passed in SB3. In a state where numerous elections have been decided by just a handful of votes, it is important to make sure that every ballot cast by an eligible voter is counted, and the domicile loophole is closed.” “HB1264 and SB3 did not make us any different from our neighboring states. In this past election, there were no reports of any voters being disenfranchised by the new requirements. In fact, voter turnout in college towns made records. We will continue to fight to prevent these bills from repealing our existing laws, and I trust my colleagues will agree that any person who casts a ballot in our state are subjected to the same rules.”