Responsive Gov’s Grade TL;DR

After passing pro-voter improvements in 2023, the General Court of New Hampshire unfortunately went back to passing new anti-voter legislation this year. While there were a few minor positive bills passed, the Legislature enacted legislation that requires more frequent purges of voters from the rolls, as well as one of the most burdensome voter registration laws in the country alongside strict photo ID laws at the polls. Because of the lasting negative impact of the new anti-voter changes, New Hampshire received a D- on this year’s scorecard.

Looking Back

Where New Hampshire Started at the Beginning of 2024

• Automatic Voter Registration: No
• Online Voter Registration: No
• Same-Day Registration: Yes
• Restoration of Rights: Prison Disenfranchisement
• Vote by Mail: Excuse-Only
• Electronic Registration Information Center Member: No
• Early Voting Opportunities: No
• ID Requirements: ID Requested, but not Required

Relying on the Cost of Voting Index for New Hampshire as of 2024, we considered the state a bottom tier state for pre-existing voting policy and compared its 2024 activity against other bottom tier states.

How Our Tier Compares

• COVI (2024): 49th
• EPI Score (2022): 46th
• CLC State Scorecard (2022): 4/10
• MAP Democracy Rating (2024): LOW

2024: This Past Year

Legislative Action

This past year the General Court of New Hampshire passed legislation that implements drastic changes to the state’s voter registration and voter ID laws.

• HB 1569 enacts one of the most burdensome voter registration laws in the country, requiring new registrants to provide physical proof of age, citizenship, residency, and identity. It also enacts strict photo ID laws at the polls that remove all options for voters to provide an alternative to a photo ID. Voters would no longer be able to sign an affidavit affirming their identity in lieu of ID or other documentary proof.
• HB 1310 requires the supervisors of checklists in cities and towns to conduct voter checklist maintenance, which can include removing voters from the rolls, every 90 days.
• HB 1264 ensures that every polling place will have at least one accessible vote machine available for voters during every election, not just federal elections.
• HB 1098 allows ballot clerks to deliver absentee ballots to nursing homes and elder care facilities to make voting more accessible for residents of these facilities.
• HB 243 requires all polling place vote tabulation to occur in public. Election officials must also publicly post the printed results from vote machines at each polling place within one hour of when the last ballot is run through the machine.