HANOVER — When a new law requiring newly registered voters in New Hampshire to meet other residency requirements went into effect last summer, many college students across the state were unsure whether they were still eligible to vote here.
On the Dartmouth campus, students appear aware of the new requirements, and somewhat wary.
“I know you can only really vote if you’re a resident of New Hampshire, which means our right to vote gets put into a gray area because we’re not really permanent residents,” said Sergio Carvallo, a Dartmouth junior from Scottsdale, Ariz. Carvallo said he still intends to vote here in the Feb. 11 Democratic primary.
At its core, the residency requirement, known as HB 1264, eliminates the distinction between a domicile and a residence. The law’s effect is that when people register to vote, they declare themselves a resident of New Hampshire and are therefore expected to carry out other functions of residency, including obtaining a New Hampshire driver’s license and registering their cars in the Granite State.
It’s also subject to a lawsuit in federal court with two Dartmouth College students as plaintiffs in partnership with the ACLU.
The 2020 elections will be freshman Avi Dixit’s first time voting. He wants to vote in New Hampshire and is pretty sure he registered last term.
“From what I’ve heard and what people have said it’s that the goal is to suppress college voters because we tend to vote more liberal. Most people who come to college here don’t want to get a driver’s license here,” said Dixit, who is from Memphis, Tenn., and also wants to take a Democratic ballot.
But fellow first-year student Ethan Hong is uncertain about his plans for voting.
“I know a vote is definitely worth more in New Hampshire for the presidential (election), but I think I want to vote in some local elections in California, so I haven’t decided,” Hong said.
There is no question that the student vote can be influential in New Hampshire elections. In 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton topped Republican Donald Trump in Hanover, 6,561-926 votes. She carried the state by a margin of just 2,736 votes. Democrat Maggie Hassan enjoyed similar margins of support in Hanover, helping her narrowly unseat Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte.
Democrats say the new voting law, which was signed by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, is an attempt by the GOP to suppress the college vote in towns such as Hanover, Durham and Plymouth, where Clinton and Hassan enjoyed similar margins in 2016.
But Republicans say it’s simply intended to hold all voters to the same residency standards and is akin to voting rules in other states.
Dartmouth College Republican President Daniel Bring, a junior from New York, said via email that his group supports the new law.
“We believe it is a critical step for voter integrity in the state of New Hampshire. All of the members whom I know are more than willing to vote by absentee ballots in their home states. I plan to do the same in this year’s elections,” he said. “We generally agree that since we only temporarily inhabit Hanover, we should not be involved with local decisions that may have permanent consequences.”
Democrats who are trying to register more voters say they are working hard to understand the bill and help students register for the Democratic primary this February. That includes Dartmouth senior Jennifer West, who formerly served as president of the College Democrats and remains involved with the organization.
“It used to be very straightforward and I used to be able to give people advice on all of those things,” West said. “Since HB 1264 has gone into effect, I have had a lot of trouble explaining what is going on.”
Hanover Town Clerk Betsy McClain is also concerned about the bill’s potential impact on Dartmouth student voters in next month’s New Hampshire primary.
“I want to be really clear (that HB 1264) doesn’t impact an individual’s ability to register to vote.” she said. “The law has created confusion that might have alienated some people from exercising their right to vote here in New Hampshire,” a problem she says is exacerbated by delays from state officials in releasing clear information about the bill.
Plymouth Town Clerk Josie Girona is still optimistic. Though she didn’t believe that the law would necessarily lead to a decrease in turnout, she said people may be forced to “think about whether they want to declare residency.”
Both McClain and Girona both said the bill could also adversely impact temporary workers who are in the state, travel nurses and the homeless population.
The nonprofit NextGen New Hampshire, which helped register thousands of voters in 2018, is spending $1.5 million on turnout efforts this year and plans to have an information table on the Dartmouth campus on Tuesday. NextGen says it is expanding its turnout program by adding 18 organizers before next month’s primary, and it has programs on 12 college campuses.
Dartmouth junior Nandita Kasireddy doesn’t have to worry about the new requirements because she grew up in Bow, N.H.
“I honestly didn’t know what it was until now. It kind of sucks because most people are not from New Hampshire, so I’ve never had to think about it and I’ve just taken it for granted,” she said.
But college IDs are still acceptable for voter registration, and McClain encourages students to show their student IDs instead of their out-of-state driver’s licenses when they register.
“When people provide an out-of-state driver’s license as proof of identity when they pick up their ballot, we are obligated to record that they confirmed their identity with an out-of-state driver’s license,” she said.
The New Hampshire Secretary of State’s office has issued an FAQ document to clarify residency and motor-vehicle requirements and posted it on its website.
Rohan Chakravarty can be reached at rchakravarty@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.