Voting Recommendations House Session March 8-9, 2017

Bill #

Title

Motion

CACR4

Relating to the attorney general. Providing that the attorney general shall be elected every 2 years.

ITL

NAY

This will give some legislative oversight over the election of the Attorney General. Which would put New Hampshire in line with Maine where the AG is elected by the Legislature. The AG is appointed by the governor in four other states: Alaska, Hawaii, New Jersey and Wyoming, while in Tennessee the choice falls to the state supreme court. The Attorney General is elected by the voters in the 43 remaining states. If this body wishes to alter the manner in which the office of Attorney General is selected, I would recommend a direct election by the voters.

HB320

Relative to procedures for apportioning electoral districts.

ITL

NAY

This will remove any attempts at gerrymandering by requiring the districts to be drawn by a computer using specifications such as keeping House districts wholly within a county. This proposal is also better than an independent redistricting committee, because it removes the human attempts to create “safe districts” for one party or the other.

HB348

Relative to registering to vote; authorizing the division of motor vehicles to receive voter registration forms with driver’s license applications.

ITL

NAY

HB348 would authorize the division of motor vehicles to receive voter registration forms with driver’s license applications.

Given the current burden on new voters in order to register (physically presenting oneself to the town/city clerk or supervisors of the checklist), HB348 is a step in the right direction in easing that burden and protecting the right to vote.

HB372

Relative to construction of the terms “resident,” “inhabitant,” “residence,” and “residency.”

OTP

NAY

Similar to HB1356 (2016) that was laid on the table by the Senate.

Current law defines a “resident” as “a person who is domiciled or has a place of abode… in this state…, and who has, through all of his actions, demonstrated a current intent to designate that place of abode as his principal place of physical presence for the indefinite future to the exclusion of all others.” In Newburger v. Peterson the court ruled that “the indefinite intention test offends the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Thus domicile and residency are distinct terms. HB372 seeks to remove the “for the indefinite future” provision from the statute. RSA 259:88 states “”Resident” shall mean a resident of the state as defined in RSA 21:6, except that no person shall be deemed to be a resident who claims residence in any other state for any purpose.” This modification to RSA 21:6 would have wide impact on driver licenses, vehicle registration and of course who is allowed to vote, by de facto making every inhabitant choose 1 residency instead of 1 domicile, despite the common practice of being able to claim multiple residences for multiple purposes.

HB384

Establishing a committee to study ballot access in New Hampshire.

ITL

NAY

The vote retention needed for a party to remain qualified in NH is twice the national average.

The number of petitions needed for a minor party or independent candidate for state rep is 20 times the apportioned number needed for a minor party or independent candidate for Governor or US Senate.

HB394

Relative to public employees testifying before legislative committees; requiring public employees to have the permission of their superiors prior to testifying before a legislative committee.

ITL

NAY

Similar to HB300 (2015) that was ITL’d.

If adopted, HB394 would actually go a long way towards protecting the rights of average people by preventing employees paid for with their money from being able (in most cases) to testify against their interests while on the clock.

HB495

Relative to amendments to warrant articles.

ITL

NAY

This bill prohibits the amendment of petitioned warrant articles.

This bill also deletes the requirement that a petitioned warrant article include a notation of whether or not the article is recommended by the governing body or the budget committee.

Protects the rights of petitioners to have a warrant article on the ballot as originally intended.

Protects the integrity of HB77 (2011), which prohibits amending the subject matter of a petitioned warrant article.

HB622

Allowing all voters to vote by absentee ballot.

ITL

NAY

HB622 would create a no-excuses absentee voting policy that would allow people who wish to vote absentee for any reason to do so.

The current wording is confusing.

When laws are this vague, they need to be amended to eliminate the vaguary!

Bill #

Title

Motion

Bill #

Title

Motion

HCR2

Supporting efforts to ensure that students from New Hampshire have access to debt-free higher education at public colleges and universities.

ITL

YEA

HB309

Relative to valid student identification cards for voting purposes.

ITL

YEA

HB110

Requiring members of the press corps covering the proceedings of the general court to wear a name tag.

ITL

YEA

HB402

Relative to presumptive evidence of domicile for voters.

ITL

YEA

HB140

Relative to sales and samples provided by wine manufacturers.

OTP-A

YEA

HB436

Exempting persons using virtual currency from registering as money transmitters.

OTP-A

YEA

HB170

Relative to posting notice and minutes of public meetings on the public body’s website.

OTP-A

YEA

HB447

Relative to allocating electoral college electors based on the national popular vote.

ITL

YEA

HB232

Relative to reporting of a legislator’s personal interest in legislation.

ITL

YEA

HB464

Relative to voter identification requirements when obtaining a ballot.

ITL

YEA

HB303

Relative to filling vacancies in the office of county commissioner.

OTP-A

YEA

HB642

Relative to eligibility to vote and relative to student identification cards.

ITL

YEA