The Senate and House of Representatives in Concord are currently debating SB 129 which would require all voters to show identification prior to voting. My question is: why do we need this legislation now? Voter fraud is not prevalent in this state. According to the Secretary of State’s office about 3 cases in every election cycle are investigated, and 1 out of those 3 cases are prosecuted. Election day is challenging enough for our local officials in New Hampshire, who work long hours every election to assure that every legal voter has a chance to cast their ballot, without imposing questionable, new voter identification procedures on those dedicated local officials. National Grange policy on voter identification calls for strong voter identification procedures at the time of voter registration, prior to election day, when there is less pressure and less chance to make a mistake. As a local elected official, I believe that if members of the legislature seriously believe further election reform is needed, strengthening voter identification at the time of registration is a much more reasonable system. It would address any legitimate concerns about voter fraud, it would not unduly burden first time, elderly or minority voters who need additional time or assistance in verifying their identity and it would be less likely to result in error or delay on election day. Last November, voters in New Hampshire sent a message to Concord to address the perceived financial mismanagement issues in state government. Our elected leaders keep insisting that their priority is financial, yet now we have an overreaching voter identification bill before the Legislature. Of the two versions of the bill in the Legislature, the Senate version is more election official friendly. So my final question for today is: Why is it that the members of our State Legislature seem to mistrust the duly elected and sworn local election officials who oversaw the clean and fair elections last November that resulted in their all being seated in our legislature today? Of all the problems facing our state today, rampant voter fraud and gross incompetence among local elected officials seem to be the least of our worries.
Contributor Leroy Watson
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