{"id":1707,"date":"2026-06-01T15:06:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T15:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1707"},"modified":"2026-06-01T15:06:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T15:06:33","slug":"why-a-judge-rejected-new-hampshires-proof-of-citizenship-law-for-voter-registration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1707","title":{"rendered":"Why a judge rejected New Hampshire\u2019s proof-of-citizenship law for voter registration"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>New Hampshire residents will once again be allowed to register to vote without producing a US passport, birth certificate, or naturalization papers, after a federal judge ruled late last week that the state\u2019s strict 2024 proof-of-citizenship law had unjustifiably burdened voting rights.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1705\">Konsta Helenius scores in overtime, Finland wins hockey world championship over Switzerland<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Secretary of State David Scanlan confirmed on Friday that his office will bring back the \u201cqualified voter affidavit\u201d that allows people to register if they attest to their US citizenship and meet the other requirements. He noted that people will still need to provide documentation to prove their identity, age, and domicile. Voters will also need to show ID to obtain a ballot. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While the attorney general\u2019s office said it is \u201cdisappointed\u201d by the court\u2019s decision and intends to pursue an appeal, the voting rights groups that filed two lawsuits challenging the law \u2014 including the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire, the League of Women Voters, the New Hampshire Youth Movement, and others \u2014 are celebrating. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get N.H. Morning Report<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>\u201cThis is a clear victory for voters,\u201d said Olivia Zink, executive director of Open Democracy NH. \u201cThe court recognized what we have been saying all along: New Hampshire\u2019s elections can remain secure without putting unnecessary barriers between eligible voters and the ballot box.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Judge Samantha Elliott, who presided over a nine-day bench trial in February, wrote in her  on Thursday that eliminating the qualified voter affidavits at the end of 2024 had placed a particularly heavy burden on young voters (who may lack easy access to certain documents) and married women (who often change their names after obtaining documents that prove their citizenship). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Most importantly, Elliott concluded the state\u2019s reasons for eliminating the affidavits don\u2019t actually justify the burdens that resulted from the policy change. Although the state argued this proof-of-citizenship law would combat voter fraud, the evidence at trial showed that only eight people had been identified as noncitizens who potentially voted in New Hampshire at any point between 1998 and 2024, she noted. Of those, only three may have used qualified voter affidavits to attest to their citizenship and register to vote. Only one has been criminally charged with intentional voter fraud. (His prosecution is pending.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cSuch miniscule numbers strongly undercut any legitimate concern about election integrity vis-\u00e0-vis noncitizen voting and, consequently, the state\u2019s interest in addressing it,\u201d she wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Elliott noted numerous cases throughout 2025 in which prospective voters were turned away at the polls because of the stricter documentation requirements and related confusion. Those cases included a recently divorced woman in Concord whose name no longer matched the voter rolls and an 89-year-old man in Manchester who was told to prove his citizenship even though he had previously lived and voted in another ward within the city. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This case echoes similar litigation over a Kansas law that was deemed unconstitutional in 2018 after it prevented more than 31,000 otherwise-eligible citizens from registering to vote. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1703\">Providence isn\u2019t an official World Cup host. But it sure is acting like one.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Several other states \u2014 none of them in New England \u2014 have recently enacted similar \u201cshow-your-papers\u201d laws, according to researchers with the Brennan Center for Justice. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The New Hampshire law\u2019s impact was expected to be particularly acute for college towns, which are often Democratic strongholds in higher-turnout elections with many same-day registrants. In Durham, for example, where a total of about 8,400 voters cast ballots in the 2024 general election, more than 1,000 used affidavits to attest to their citizenship on Election Day, shortly before the new law took effect. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Bella Cannon, a student at the University of New Hampshire and a member of the New Hampshire Youth Movement, said the court\u2019s ruling delivers a sense of relief, since the law\u2019s added hurdles had made it \u201cnearly impossible\u201d for many of her peers to vote. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cMost students don\u2019t have their proof of citizenship on hand,\u201d she said. \u201cSecuring the right to affidavits at the polls eases my anxiety of being turned away on election day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Republicans who enacted the law expressed outrage at Elliott\u2019s order. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cDemocrats know their policies are deeply unpopular in the Granite State,\u201d said Republican State Representative Ross Berry, who chairs the New Hampshire House Election Law Committee. \u201cThat is why they must rely on unelected far-left judges to force their ideology onto voters.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This ruling comes as President Trump and his Republican allies push for Congress to adopt similar proof-of-citizenship requirements at the federal level, via the SAVE America Act, a measure critics warn could prevent millions from voting.  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><i>A version of this story appears in Globe NH | Morning Report, a free email newsletter focused on New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles elsewhere. <\/i><i>Sign up here.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1701\">It\u2019s four in a row for North Reading girls, two straight for Weston boys at Division 5 track championships<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Hampshire residents will once again be allowed to register to vote without producing a US passport, birth certificate, or naturalization papers, after a federal judge ruled late last week that the state\u2019s strict 2024 proof-of-citizenship law had unjustifiably burdened voting rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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