Voters fill out ballots at a polling place in Concord, N.H., on Nov. 3, 2020.
The New Hampshire Senate on March 18 rejected a bill that would have made permanent last year’s no-excuse absentee ballot temporary measure.
Last year, New Hampshire first passed guidance from the attorney general and secretary of state and then legislation relaxing the rules regarding absentee ballots due to a pandemic of the Chinese Communist virus (Wuhan pneumonia).
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, had previously vetoed a similar bill that sought to make absentee voting without cause permanent. He has since signed the temporary measure in response to the viral pandemic.
New Hampshire is one of many states to expand no-excuse mail voting in the 2020 presidential election. These changes contributed to record turnout, but after November 3, 2020, mass absentee voting raised concerns about the integrity of the election.
According to the Secretary of State’s office, New Hampshireites cast 814,092 ballots in last year’s general election, of which 262,062 (about 32 percent) were absentee ballots.
The Republican-majority New Hampshire Senate voted 14-10 on Thursday to end the bill, WMUR-TV reported. Efforts to ease the current restrictions were also rejected by a New Hampshire House committee.
Under current law, absentee voting is limited to people who are out of town on voting day or who are unable to get to the polls because of religious observance, disability or illness. Those who have jobs while polling places are open on Election Day may also apply for absentee ballots.
Senate Democratic Leader Donna Soucy (D-Calif.), the bill’s lead sponsor, argued that the expansion of absentee voting in 2020 worked well and that people will look forward to being able to vote absentee again in the next election.
“We’re making significant changes to election laws to respond to the needs of people during a pandemic because we know it can force some people to make impossible choices,” Soucy said, “and no one should have to choose between their health and whether or not they should vote. “
“Now that we’ve had the largest election in the history of the state and have accommodated all of those voters, why should we now turn around and tell them that the process no longer makes sense?” Susie added, “Now that they’ve had the experience, people know that they don’t want to go back.”
James Gray, chairman of the Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee, said that other than being “too lazy” to vote on Election Day, the current law already allows for all reasonable options. Current law already allows for all reasonable absentee voting.
“The only people who might be told, ‘No, you can’t vote absentee,’ are those who find it more convenient to vote absentee and don’t want to vote on that day,” Gray said. Gray said.
“The current law is sufficient.” He added.
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