NH may have helped defeat Trump and return an all-Democratic Congressional delegation to Washington, but locally, Republicans won control of everything – NH House, Senate, Executive Council, and Governorship. Reflecting a distasteful national trend, NH Republicans are now hard at work to further restrict NH voting rights and suppress future voting. Several bills restricting voting rights are now in NH House committee hearings through March 11. Write your NH representative and/or go to http://gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/remotetestimony/default.aspx to register your support or opposition of these bills, including:

Support for HB428 transparent redistricting: This bill would help prevent gerrymandering by requiring any redistricting to be a fair and transparent process.

Support for HB555: This bill amends the absentee ballot law to allow people in a penal institution on a misdemeanor or awaiting trial to vote by absentee ballot.

Oppose HB370: This partisan bill (Republican 4-0) would undermine the will of the voters in selecting the president of the United States. Instead of being decided by majority vote (the statewide popular vote), this bill states that New Hampshire’s “electors of the president and vice president of the United States shall be designated by the party that receives a plurality of votes in a plurality of executive council districts, and in the absence of such a plurality, shall be designated by the New Hampshire senate.”

In spite of COVID-19 issues, the 2020 election has been declared one of the safest and most secure, with voter turnout far exceeding prior elections. Rather than encouraging that trend for future voter involvement, Republicans are once again playing politics with voting rights, to maintain their hold on power, especially in NH. Let’s stop these Republican dirty tricks in NH by ensuring your representative hears from you on these bills.