Today, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch vetoed a voter ID bill. The bill would have limited necessary photo ID for the upcoming election, and severely restricted the types of acceptable photo identification for elections beyond 2013 by excluding state employee IDs, student IDs, and the flexibility of poll-workers to accept IDs that reasonably identify the voter.
The Brennan Center for Justice released the following statement from Senior Counsel Keesha Gaskins:
“We are pleased Governor Lynch vetoed this restrictive voter ID bill, which would have made it more difficult for some eligible voters to cast ballots this fall. A number of city and town clerks expressed reservations about this bill because it would have placed an undue burden on election administration. This law is another example of a legislature placing unreasonable restrictions on voters, without clear benefit to voters or to election officials. Instead, legislatures should pass laws like the Voter Empowerment Act and the Voter Empowerment Act of New York, which will make our election system work for all Americans by modernizing voter registration.”
Visit the Brennan Center’s Election 2012 page for more information on voting law changes.
To interview one of the Center’s voting rights experts, please contact Erik Opsal at erik.opsal@nyu.edu or 646–292–8356.