Let me tell you a story about the great lengths Republicans will go to in order to block access to the ballot box. All of this is unfolding right now in New Hampshire. #NHpolitics
Where it started: NH Republicans passed SB 3 last year, an overly bureaucratic and unnecessary law aimed solely at making it harder for eligible voters to cast a ballot.
SB 3 requires new documentation for people who register within 30 days of an election -- documentation that can often be difficult for students, low-income folks and new residents to get their hands on.
Why does the GOP want to make it harder for people to vote? Because in 2016, they lost a U.S. Senate seat in New Hampshire by about 1,000 votes & Trump lost the state in the presidential race. Suppressing voters gives Republicans a better chance at winning statewide elections.
Republicans say NH needs SB 3 to fight voter fraud, but an exhaustive investigation by the attorney general’s office found no widespread fraud in the state. Given that data, it’s clear this law only serves to keep some eligible Granite Staters from voting.
But wait, there’s more: After SB 3 passed last year, @NHDems & the League of Women Voters sued, calling the law unconstitutional and demanding it be invalidated. That lawsuit is ongoing.
To make their case, @NHDems and the LWV are seeking access to the state’s voter registration database. Information in the database, they believe, could be analyzed to show who is actually hurt by the law.
BUT, NH’s Attorney General has refused to comply with that simple and fair request — and actually helped Republicans in the legislature draft a bill blocking the state from disclosing info from the voter database in response to a subpoena or discovery request.
That pretty much says it all. Rather than defending SB 3 on its merits, NH Republicans are rewriting the rules to make it and other voter suppression laws harder to challenge.
Are you shocked that New Hampshire Republicans would rig the system just so they can win this lawsuit and continue suppressing voters? I’m not.
This is all far from over, and the NH Supreme Court will review whether the voter database should be provided to the @NHDems and the League of Women Voters in their challenge to SB 3.
But these despicable actions tell us a lot about voter suppression today: Republicans will go to absurd, shameless lengths to limit the right to vote. When the electorate doesn’t like their policies, Republicans’ instinct is to change the electorate, not the policies.
I’ll be damned if I’m going to let Republicans blatantly suppress the vote in New Hampshire or anywhere else in the country. @LetAmericaVote is on the ground RIGHT NOW talking to voters so we can hold NH politicians accountable this fall.
We’re a grassroots team that relies on small donations so we can keep working to stop vote suppressors. If you think this nonsense in New Hampshire should be stopped, pitch in a few bucks to @LetAmericaVote. secure.actblue.com/donate/holdvot…
