CONCORD – House Speaker William O’Brien and Senate President Peter Bragdon today released the following statement in response to Strafford County Court’s Injunction on Senate Bill 318, which was passed by the Legislature this year and modifies forms and procedures for voter registration.
House Speaker William O’Brien
“New Hampshire citizens have a right to elect individuals of their own choosing. Allowing non-residents into New Hampshire to dictate who will be our presidential choice, who shall be our Governor, and who shall represent us in the Legislature takes away our voting rights. When individuals find themselves in New Hampshire and know they will leave, they should not vote here. Whether it is because they finish a temporary work project, a vacation, or graduate from school, they are neither domiciled in New Hampshire, nor a resident here. Merely being in New Hampshire does not give a person a right to vote. One must intend to stay for at least an indefinite period and when you do you can vote and will become a resident. Legislating otherwise from the bench to say there are two classes of voters—all of us who reside in New Hampshire, and those residents of other states who choose to vote here because we are a battleground state—is judicial activism of the worst sort. The Supreme Court needs to act quickly to restore the voting rights of New Hampshire’s citizens.”
Senate President Peter Bragdon
“It is unfortunate the court has made it easier for out-of-state residents to vote in New Hampshire elections.
“This legislation was created with the help and support of Secretary of State Bill Gardner and simply changes the voter registration form back to the way it read before the Democrats watered down its language in 2007.”