Twenty-seven voters who registered at the polls without an identification earlier this month were provided with affidavit ballots, by far the largest number of such voters since the law went into effect in 2023.
The November general election was also the last time voters without an identification will have the option of using the marked, trackable ballots: earlier this year, Republicans in the state Legislature passed a law ending the use of affidavit ballots in favor of a new policy that mandates all first-time voters show proof of their identity, as well as their citizenship and domicile.
Of the 27 voters who cast affidavit ballots on Election Day, just three mailed in proof of their identity to the Secretary of State’s office within seven days as required by law. When voters don’t mail in proof of their identity within one week, local election officials are then required to reduce final vote tallies, a process that the law’s critics say can reveal the voting preferences of would-be voters.
Since going into effect in 2023, there have been seven previous affidavit ballots cast in both municipal and primary elections, according to records shared by the secretary’s office. Just two of those seven voters failed to return proof of their identities.
When a voter fails to mail in proof of their identity, the Attorney General’s office then launches an investigation into whether that person was legally permitted to vote in the state, or if they violated any state election laws. It isn’t clear yet if any of the 24 voters who failed to mail in proof in the most recent election will be prosecuted.
Gov. Chris Sununu and Republican lawmakers created the system for affidavit ballots as a way to prevent voter fraud and instill confidence in the election process.
In practice, there is no evidence that non-qualified voters were participating in New Hampshire’s elections in large numbers.
Sununu’s signature of the new law — and the repeal of the affidavit ballot system — went into effect on Nov. 11. The timing caused confusion among voting officials because the repeal of the law fell within the seven-day window that voters are permitted to mail in proof of their identity. Ultimately, Secretary of State David Scanlan declared that the use of affidavit ballots would be in place for the general election, even though the law would be repealed by the time local election officials were then tasked with subtracting votes.
A coalition of progressive and civil liberties groups initially sued to block the use of affidavit ballots in 2023, arguing they were an unconstitutional burden on qualified voters and posed a risk to privacy rights, but those cases were dismissed.
A second wave of litigation is now working its way through the courts challenging the constitutionality of the new voter identification requirements that went into effect this month.
