The New Hampshire Legislature passed a bill June 26 that modifies the state's voter identification law and repeals language that would have eliminated use of student ID cards.
Conservative Republicans tried to scuttle the bill, arguing that the law was working. "We saw no disenfranchisement that was spoken about and we saw no denial of anyone who had the right to vote," said Rep. Pamela Tucker, R-Greenland.
Rep. Daniel C. Itse, R-Fremont, said the bill, House Bill 595, "dilutes the value of the vote." He pointed to the Attorney General's office investigation of undocumented voters in 2012, an inquiry, still underway, that is spelled out by statute.
Itse argued the state knows there was some fraud, though he said answers are still being sought.
Rep. Gary B. Richardson, D-Hopkinton, countered his remarks during the House debate. "There's absolutely no fraud that's been proven anywhere," he said. "The paranoia and hysteria and misinformation about this bill is absolutely rampant."
The House passed the bill 231-121. The Senate passed it 14-10.
Per the agreement reached by a Committee of Conference, the amendment allows use of qualified student IDs as long as it bears a date of issuance or expiration within five years of the election. This portion takes effect Sept. 1, 2018 to grandfather existing student IDs.
The amendment postpones the effective date of the provision that requires local election officials to take photographs of voters until Sept. 1, 2015 (it was Sept. 1, 2013). According to Richardson's report to the House, the bill also keeps the authority of election officials "to verify the identity of voters and enables voters over age 65 to use acceptable forms of identification without regard to expiration date."
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