New Hampshire Secretary of State, David Scanlan. Has ordered the use of Affidavit ballots for the up and coming November election. However this comes as the Governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu. Signed into effect the law HB 1569. Among other provisions HB 1569 would end the use of Affidavit ballots in the election.
Affidavit ballots are ballots that are given to first time voters or first time registering voters who don’t show identification at the polls. They are then given seven days to mail in proof of identification, or their votes will be subtracted from the final count.
As it stands HB 1569 goes into effect at midnight on November 11th. This is one day before the deadline of November 12th. So as it stands the Secretary of State plans to enforce something that will not be recognized by the State and could invalidate voters. This does come as previously Henry Klementowicz, an attorney with the ACLU of New Hampshire and the Democratic National Convention had previously sued to block the use of affidavit ballots, however a lower court dismissed the case.
This comes as questions of voter fraud and security are at an all time high. However David Scanlan believes that the interpretation of the law states that the use of affidavit ballots are fair and allowed due to the laws wording and introduction time. Scanlan states that “Nothing in the new law known as HB 1569 indicates any legislation intent that the law’s voter registration and election day procedure were intended to affect the November 5th, 2024 State General Election in any way”
