New Hampshire’s Secretary of State says he will not make any changes to our election practices despite President Trump’s attempt to restrict mail-in voting.
“The Federal Government cannot usurp New Hampshire’s express constitutional authority to run elections and cannot compel New Hampshire to violate state and federal election statutes, including those that protect the privacy of voter information,” David Scanlan wrote in a brief statement Wednesday.
Scanlan was responding to President Trump’s executive order, which was issued Tuesday. The order said the Department of Homeland Security must compile a complete list of “verified U.S. citizens” in each state who are eligible to vote, and require the Postal Service “to transmit ballots only to individuals enrolled on a state-specific Mail-in and Absentee Participation List.”
The order is certain to be challenged in court.
Scanlan’s office has previously rejected federal efforts to get a list of registered New Hampshire voters.
“The Federal Constitution grants each state the authority to determine the time, place, and manner of elections. New Hampshire has long exercised that authority in a manner that ensures elections are secure, transparent, and trustworthy,” he wrote in Wednesday’s statement.
The Granite State has limited-excuse absentee voting, allowing mail-in ballots if a voter is out of town on election day, or has an employment commitment, family responsibility or religious observance that would otherwise prevent someone from going to the polls when they are open.
“New Hampshire has strong voter registration procedures that ensure voters are United States citizens while assisting voters who need help obtaining documentary proof of their qualifications,” Scanlan wrote.
Trump, who often votes by mail in Florida elections, has long targeted mail-in voting and other election practices, such as ballot drop-off sites, that are traditionally seen as favoring Democrats. He often claims the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him due to fraud in mail-in voting, but hasn’t been able to provide any evidence that this is true.
Trump’s limits on mail-in voting come as he pushes Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a measure that would make it much harder to register to vote by requiring proof of U.S. citizenship in ways that would require many people, especially women who changed their last name when they married, to pay for a passport or other court documents. The U.S. House voted to approve the measure in February and the Senate debated it this month without taking a vote.
Trump has warned Republicans at public events that they will lose the November midterm elections if they don’t pass the bill and limit mail-in voting.
