CONCORD — A plan to assemble the New Hampshire House of Representatives in a parking lot and carry out a “drive-in” voting session next month has set off new concerns from Democrats, who say that it excludes members with disabilities — and could lead to a lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
House Republican leadership has announced an intention to hold the Jan. 6 “Convening Day” at the University of New Hampshire, this time by having each member sit in their own vehicle and listen to speeches and vote from there.
The 400 representatives would space their cars out using every other parking space, according to a plan from UNH distributed to House representatives on Monday by the Speaker’s office. Lawmakers would listen to speeches using an FM radio broadcast.
But three House Democrats with disabilities have written letters to acting-Speaker Sherman Packard saying that sitting for several hours in a vehicle would not be feasible for them.
Reps. David Cote, Katherine Rogers, and Ken Snow have raised objections to the meeting format and requested further accommodations to participate remotely under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Each of them has disabilities that inhibit mobility.
At a press conference Tuesday morning, Cote, Rogers and Snow joined House Democratic Leader Renny Cushing in criticizing the new plan. They argued that the House session should be held remotely using a video call and that votes could be taken online from afar.
“We presented to the acting Speaker a memo that outlines a number of ways that we could meet safely, that we could meet remotely,” Cushing said. “To me, it’s the height of irresponsibility, as we’re in the midst of a pandemic that seems to be spiking, for us to anything other than set the appropriate example, and do what every other business is doing in the state, doing what schools are doing, and that’s just meeting safely and meeting remotely.”
Failure to find a solution could lead the party to turn to the courts, Cushing said.
“Quite frankly, what we’re trying desperately to do is to avoid litigation,” he said, adding that the caucus had a “legal team” reviewing options.
House Democrats are currently being represented by Paul Twomey, an election law attorney who has represented them in the past, according to Rogers.
Throughout the press conference, the representatives who had written letters spoke one by one to explain their concerns.
Rogers, a Concord Democrat, has a degenerative joint disease and uses a walker and wheelchair to move. The requirement to sit in a car would make it difficult for her to attend a session, she said. Sitting for long periods of time is painful, she said, and she would need to ask for help in order to leave her car or use the bathroom.
In order to not be in pain, Rogers would likely need to take painkillers, she said, something that would not allow her to vote easily, and would preclude her from driving the car afterward.
“My constituents seem to think that, although I am disabled, that I represent them very well,” Rogers said, referring to her election victories. “But the Speaker and the Republican leadership are putting me in the position of not allowing me to represent my constituents by making it difficult for me to go to a session.”
Cote, meanwhile, pointed to his coronary artery disease and a 2018 heart attack to note that he is at particular risk if he contracts COVID-19. The Nashua representative has been living in his house since March and skipping family gatherings. Driving to Durham would require him to carpool, he said.
“I am utterly mystified as to why we can’t proceed under a hybrid option thus allowing each representative to make individual choices based on their individual health and family situation,” he wrote in a letter to Packard.