It took three trips, but Brooke Yonge was finally able to cast her ballot.
On her first trip to the Derry polls Tuesday morning, Yonge didn’t bring proof of her U.S. citizenship, a requirement under New Hampshire’s new voter identification law. So she drove home to grab her birth certificate, and then tried to vote a second time.
But there was another problem.
“It doesn’t have my married name on it,” she said. Town voting officials then sent her away a second time, to get her marriage certificate.
“It is what it is,” said Yonge, walking back to her car yet again.
Tuesday’s town elections saw the first widespread application of New Hampshire’s new Republican-backed voting law. The new rules are considered some of the strictest in the country: No longer can would-be voters sign an affidavit if they don’t bring certain identification documents with them to the polls. Now, all new voters in the state must have paperwork in hand proving they are U.S. citizens — including a birth certificate, passport or naturalization papers — as well as showing that they meet residency requirements.
A range of voting rights and progressive groups previously sued in federal court to block the law, but it remains in effect as the cases play out.
This town meeting season is the first test of the law’s impact, but it isn’t clear how many qualified voters may be turned away for failure to comply with the documentation requirements: voting officials, from the state to the local level, don’t appear to maintain any records of such instances.
In Derry, where local officials described the turnout as low, there were at least two other would-be voters who were denied a ballot because they initially lacked proof of their citizenship. In one instance, an 18-year old was able to contact her mother, who texted her a picture of her birth certificate.
Michael Appleton, a 23-year old military veteran from Derry, was also initially turned away, but would return with his birth certificate.
“In this personal incident right now, it is a little inconvenient,” he said of the law’s requirements. “But I think it is a perfectly reasonable thing to ask of people.”
In Londonderry, at least one person who attempted to register was turned away for failing to bring proof of citizenship, according to a poll observer, though it wasn’t clear if the person returned with any documentation.
In Hopkinton, 70-year-old Betsy Spencer did end up casting a ballot, but it took plenty of doing.
Spencer has lived and voted in Hopkinton for decades, but briefly relocated to Maine where she cast a ballot in November’s election. She moved back to Hopkinton last month, and when she arrived at the polls to register Tuesday, she thought she was prepared.
“I had my birth certificate, a change of address from the US Postal Service — everything but my blood type and the kitchen sink — and I was told I could not register to vote,” Spencer said.
The issue, Spencer said, was that her surname on her birth certificate is different from how she was registering to vote.
“When I divorced, I kept my last name for consistency with my family,” Spencer said. “The idea that women have to prove their name change is profoundly sexist and limiting.”
Spencer said after local election officials consulted with the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s office, her expired passport was deemed sufficient proof of ID for her to register and vote. But she said casting her ballot ended up taking several hours.
“I should be back working, but the truth was, I could not let this go,” Spencer said. “This is not ok.”
Under the previous state law, any person seeking to register to vote who failed to bring certain documents to the polls could sign a sworn affidavit attesting to their citizenship or residency. While the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office could launch an investigation following the election into a person’s qualifications, some Republican officials argued that the system was too permissive. Then-Gov. Chris Sununu signed House Bill 1569 last summer ending the use of affidavits, over the objection of Democrats who argue the new policies will disenfranchise qualified voters.
