Responsive Gov’s Grade TL;DR

For yet another session, New Hampshire doubled down on an anti-voter agenda. Lawmakers enacted punitive measures that tighten the already burdensome proof-of-citizenship requirements and authorize individual hand-count requests — a move poised to paralyze election administration with unnecessary delays. Compounding this regression, the Legislature killed bipartisan efforts to modernize via online voter registration, leaving the state’s registration infrastructure woefully antiquated. This cumulative failure earned New Hampshire a D-.

Looking Back

Where New Hampshire Started at the Beginning of 2025

• 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 2025 activity against other bottom tier states.

How Our Tier Compares

• COVI (2024): 47th
• EPI Score (2022): 46th

2025: This Past Year

Legislative Action

For yet another session, the General Court of New Hampshire enacted legislation that implements drastic changes to the state’s voter registration and voter ID laws.

• SB 218 expands the state’s existing and extremely burdensome proof of citizenship requirement for in-person voter registration to voter registrations sent by mail. This type of proof-of-citizenship law puts the maximum administrative burden on the individual voter.
• SB 287 requires voters submitting mail ballot applications to include a copy of their photo ID with their application, have their application notarized, or present their photo ID to their local clerk in person, in order for the application to be accepted. Again, this system puts the maximum administrative burden on the individual voter.
• HB 154 allows any voter to request their ballot be hand-counted.
• HB 288 requires mail ballot applications to be received within 6 months of an election to be valid.
• SB 221 requires voter list maintenance processes to occur on a yearly basis rather than every 10 years.
• HB 464 allows the department of state to verify voter records based on out-of-state driver’s license information if a voter’s record cannot be matched to an in-state driver’s license and allows proof that a voter registration applicant was previously or is currently registered to vote in a different town or ward in the state to satisfy the proof of citizenship requirement.
• HB 294 removes the option for a group of challengers to delay the processing of absentee ballots until after the close of polls.
• HB 67 expands an existing pilot project to require the secretary of state to provide cities with accessible vote machines for city elections.