On Tuesday, the Coalition for Open Democracy — a nonpartisan activist group focused on political equality based in Concord, N.H. — filed a lawsuit challenging N.H. H.B. 323. The bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Kelly Ayotte on April 3 and went into effect on June 2, eliminated the option to use student ID cards as proof of identity when obtaining a ballot on election day.
The lawsuit claims that H.B. 323 “unconstitutionally burden[s] the fundamental right to vote” and therefore violates the First, 14th and 26th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. It also claims that N.H. Secretary of State David Scanlan “unlawfully extended the ban in H.B. 323 to the voting registration process” when he issued guidance to election officials in April “in excess of any power he possesses.” This directive, the lawsuit wrote, also violated the 14th and 26th Amendments.
Open Democracy is being represented by Free Speech For People and Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, as well as local counsel Whatley Kallas LLP. In a joint press release, the organizations wrote that H.B. 323 “is part of a long-running history of New Hampshire politicians making it harder for young people to vote.”
Before H.B. 323, school-issued student identification cards served as a valid form of ID to obtain a ballot at polling locations. Now, only government-issued ID — a driver’s license, nondriver identification card, military ID or passport — will be sufficient.
To register to vote, an applicant must present proof of citizenship, age, domicile and identity pursuant to RSA 654:12. A student ID can only verify age and identity, and must be supplemented with official documents proving citizenship and domicile.
In May, a U.S. district court struck down H.B. 1569, re-establishing that N.H. voters may also sign a qualified voter affidavit to confirm citizenship during registration. The lawsuit — also brought by the Coalition for Open Democracy, among other activist groups — claimed the state has some of the strictest voter laws in the country.
In an interview with The Dartmouth, Open Democracy executive director Olivia Zink said the organization found that “many” high school students in the state did not have a driver’s license or passport.
“If you’re 18 and you’re a U.S. citizen, you still have a constitutional right to vote, and even though the state legislature changed the law to say that student IDs no longer count to prove your identity, remember it’s just a proof of identity,” Zink said. “It has your picture and your name.”
The lawsuit wrote that “many young voters cannot afford and will not seek to obtain a driver’s license” because of the prerequisites for doing so, which include completing 40 hours of supervised driving, a written exam and a driver’s education course. The plaintiffs cited the cost and waiting period, which they said make obtaining a passport “not a viable option for many young voters.”
Obtaining a state-issued identification card — a third possible form of identification — through the Department of Motor Vehicles is “is unduly burdensome, fails to increase election security and imposes an unconstitutional fee on first-time voters,” the lawsuit adds. These ID cards cost $20 for those under the age of 65.
The authors of the joint press release wrote that H.B. 323 is “especially concerning” because New Hampshire has one of the lowest youth voter registration rates in the country — just 7% of 18-year-olds in New Hampshire are registered to vote as of March, according to The Civics Center — which provides resources to high schools to encourage youth voter registration.
The lawsuit cites Dartmouth’s vehicle policy, which restricts first- and second-year students from having a vehicle on campus. This, they wrote, leaves students with “no incentive to obtain costly driver’s licenses” and “limited ability to access DMV locations in order to obtain a state-issued identification card.” The nearest DMV to the College is in Newport, N.H., which is 37 miles away.
In a press statement provided to The Dartmouth, N.H. House Election Law Committee chairman and State Rep. Ross Berry, R-Weare, wrote that “college students are not a special class of voters.”
“Our common-sense law holds everyone, college student or otherwise, to the same standard,” Berry wrote. “There are no exemptions for favored groups. Going to court to demand otherwise undermines the very principle of equality under the law.”
Scanlan and N.H. attorney general John Formella did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.
