The Independent View: NH New Voter ID Law in 2016 Presidential Primary

Though New Hampshire's voter ID law has been on the books since 2012, February 9th will the first time it will be in place for the State's Presidential Primary, when many of new or infrequent voters show up. Chances are, lots of them won’t know the rules.

Here’s how it works: When you show up at the polls, you’ll be asked to show identification, like a driver’s license or military ID. If you don’t have one, you’ll have to fill out an affidavit, swearing you are who you say you are. Your local election official will also need to take your photograph. Do all that, and your vote will be counted.

It’s not just election officials who are concerned. Advocates at the ACLU and the League of Women Voters will be monitoring what happens on Primary Day, making sure voters know their rights.

Joan Flood Ashwell Election Law Specialist with the League of Women Voters New Hampshire, says laws like this risk pushing voters away, especially students, people of color, low income voters, the elderly who are less likely to have a drivers license. "It doesn’t add anything to security or anything like that, and it’s basically a barrier to voting," Ashwell says.

But while some say laws like New Hampshire’s suppress votes, others say they’re necessary to prevent voter fraud. "There is always this tension that takes place between trying to make voting convenient and trying to make sure that fraudulent activity doesn’t take place," says Dave Scanlan, Deputy Secretary of State. "So, the more you try to knuckle down on preventing fraud, the more difficult you’re going to make it for voters to participate in that process, and vice versa."

Scanlan says the number of people who actually show up to the polls in New Hampshire without proper ID is consistently less than 1 percent. He says it’s hard to say that any of them intended to commit voter fraud. "Those people forget their ID at home, some protest the ID law going into effect. So, I think based on that, the actual percentage of voters that are trying to commit fraud, successfully or not, is really pretty small." Scanlan says he knows of only one potential voter last election who chose to walk away instead of doing the whole affidavit and photo thing.

For those who do go that route, there’s a follow up. Soon after Election Day, Scanlon’s office will send you a postcard, to make sure that was really you. And then you’re supposed to respond. If you don’t respond, the Attorney General’s office will look into it.

So how many of those challenged voter affidavits will be floating around after the upcoming Presidential Primary? Data from the 2014 elections shows inconsistencies in the number of voters showing up without proper ID from town to town, even in towns with similar numbers of voters. That could have to do with discretion in how the law’s applied.