Senate Committee Passes Bill To Create Online Election Information Portal

By Amanda Gokee, New Hampshire Bulletin

Lawmakers from the Senate Election Law Committee advanced a bipartisan bill to create an online election information portal on Monday, while a Democratic proposal to expand absentee voting faces obstacles in its path forward, with key Republicans opposing the bill.

Lawmakers unanimously approved Senate Bill 425 – which would authorize the secretary of state to create an election information portal. The goal of the legislation is to modernize the process for new voters to register, request absentee ballots, or request a change to their name, address, or party affiliation online. If the bill passes, it wouldn’t be available for the public to use until January 2023.

Denis Goulet, the commissioner of the Department of Information Technology, explained the price tag for creating such a portal to lawmakers. According to numbers prepared by Goulet, creating the portal would cost $1.67 million in fiscal year 2023, $3.55 million in 2024, and $6.32 million in 2025. Goulet said since COVID has caused the demand for online services to skyrocket, the project would likely qualify for some federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act.

He supported the efforts and said that modern digital government is one of the department’s goals for the state. “Anything that enhances citizen services in a digital platform is something that we like to see happen,” he said.

Lawmakers were not unified when it came to Senate Bill 427, an effort to expand absentee voting. Sen. Donna Soucy, a Manchester Democrat and prime sponsor of the legislation, said the bill would allow absentee ballot registration and voting procedures like pre-processing ballots used during the 2020 elections to continue. It would allow all qualified voters the option to vote by absentee ballot, regardless of whether they’re out of town, dealing with a disability, or there’s a storm.

Soucy pointed to the 2020 elections as a success, with 814,092 ballots cast, 85,000 more than the prior record for turnout in 2016. And, Soucy said, 261,062 ballots cast in 2020 were absentee.

Sen. James Gray, the committee chair, opposed the bill, which he said would effectively institute mail-in voting by removing all current requirements necessary to qualify for an absentee ballot. He said those who are able to vote in person should do so.

“Of course, there are circumstances when absentee voting is necessary, including illness, bad weather, or absence from town. However, we should not start down a road that would lead to all mail-in voting being allowed in the future,” he said in a statement after the hearing.

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