GST has always supported improvements to New Hampshire Voter law that would guarantee that only New Hampshire residents should decide the outcome of New Hampshire elections.
If special interests are able to affect elections with people who may or may not be domiciled in New Hampshire, the result could be very costly to the taxpayers who actually live and pay taxes here.
Currently, New Hampshire laws allow individuals to vote in a New Hampshire election without showing evidence of actually residing in New Hampshire. An individual is allowed to complete and sign an affidavit that states he/she is indeed a US citizen, their identity and the place in New Hampshire where they are currently located. Upon completion of the affidavit, the individual is given a ballot and is allowed to cast that ballot, which at the close of polling that day, will be counted and affect the final outcome of the elections.
Differences in interpretation of domicile and residency create a loophole that in effect enables individuals from other states to vote in New Hampshire, and then immediately return to their real home.
Senate Bill 3 is an effort to bring clarity to this question. It would define an inhabitant’s domicile for voting purposes to be the principal or primary home or place of abode of a person. Principal or primary home or place of abode is that home or place in which his or her habitation is fixed and to which a person, whenever he or she is temporarily absent, has the intention of returning after a departure or absence therefrom, including when the person is absent because of military service or temporarily absent.
Senate Bill 3 stipulates the factors or evidence that may be taken into account in determining domicile for voting purpose. They include civic and community participation, the place where a person spends most nights of the year, the location from which a person would apply for a passport or other federal identification, residence for income or other tax purposes, eligibility for a resident hunting and fishing license, and a New Hampshire driver’s license.
Specifically, the bill states that a person shall not be considered to have gained a domicile in any town or ward of this state into which he or she comes for temporary purposes only, without the intention of making it his or her home but with the intention of leaving it when he or she has accomplished the purpose that brought him or her there.
SB3 is scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Election Law and Internal Affairs Committee on Tuesday 3/07/2017 at 10:00 AM in Room 102 of the Legislative Office Building in Concord.
GST urges the Legislature and the Governor to pass Senate Bill 3, and help keep New Hampshire elections for New Hampshire voters.