Republican Leader Applauds Veto of Election Law Repeal Bills

CONCORD – House Republican Leader Dick Hinch (R-Merrimack) issued a statement following Governor Sununu’s vetoes of HB105, and HB106, which repeal common sense election laws that were recently enacted.

“The mantra from Democrats is that they want clean and fair elections, but their legislation suggests they only want to remove reasonable provisions from our laws that provide for cleaner and fairer elections,” said Hinch. “HB106 seeks to repeal common sense legislation that the State just enacted in 2018. Within the last year, 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. I am deeply disappointed that Democrats did not see through the conspiracies, misleading information, and classic fear mongering perpetuated by proponents of these bills. I trust my colleagues will agree that any person who casts a ballot in our state are subjected to the same rules. I applaud the Governor’s veto of these bills, and we look forward to holding up his vetoes when they come back to the House for a vote. ”

Background:

HB105 relative to domicile residency, voter registration, and investigation of voter verification letters attempts to reverse provisions in law made be SB3 (2017), and HB 106, relative to the terms “resident,” “inhabitant,” “residence,” and “residency”, seeks to reverse changes in law made by HB1264 (2018).