Secret ballots may not always remain secret under one of several proposals going before New Hampshire lawmakers seeking to tighten voting rules.

The House could vote as early as Wednesday on a bill that would allow certain ballots to be tagged and later removed if it is discovered that individuals voted improperly.

Opponents, including the secretary of state's office and town and city clerks, say so-called provisional ballots interfere with the cherished right to keep one's vote private.

"We're very concerned that's a bad precedent," said Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlon.

"Just the fact that people know it could happen will discourage voting," said Keene Rep. Charles Weed, who joins other Democrats in opposing the measure.

The plan calls for ballots to be flagged when a voter shows up without proper identification and signs an affidavit to certify residence or citizenship as part of same-day registration. Those signing affidavits would be informed that their ballots are being tagged for possible later identification.

House Election Law Committee member Rep. William O'Brien, a Republican from Mont Vernon, favors the measure. He said codes could be used to link the affidavit and ballot so the voter's name would only be available to an election official.

Furthermore, the ballots would only be examined if there were a challenge to a person's right to vote that was deemed legitimate by state or local election officials.

"There's not a right to privacy for a false vote," he said.

But opponents say this bill is more likely to hurt legitimate voters. If a person fills out an affidavit before voting in a small town, just the fact of marking the ballot links it to voter.

"It negates a person's privacy. There are a lot of small communities. It will definitely identify a certain voter," said Merrimack Town Clerk Diane Trippett, of the New Hampshire City and Town Clerks Association, which opposes the measure.

She said it also could delay recounts by requiring election officials to find individual coded ballots among tens of thousands of uncoded ballots.

"It definitely would take us quite a lot of time," she said. This would drag out the re-count process, adding expense and perhaps delaying a winning candidate from being seated, she said.

Opponents say there's no evidence of widespread voter fraud to justify these additional burdens. Scanlon said he knew of one case that was prosecuted where a son fraudulently used his father's name to vote. In other cases, folks voted in an incorrect ward or district but there was no evidence they'd voted more than once, he said.

Furthermore, state law allows for challenges at the polls before anyone gets a ballot.

But O'Brien said that's not always practical, and these and other measures would make it easier to get a handle on how extensive voter fraud is in New Hampshire.

"I do believe there is a problem,"he said, pointing at concerns that students from other states are improperly voting in New Hampshire while attending school.

"People are becoming cynical about elections," he said. He hopes these steps would improve people's confidence in election results.

Republican leadership is supporting the bill. "The concern is that people are voting in two communities," said House Majority Leader Michael O'Neil.

In addition to supporting provisional ballots, Republican leaders and the House Election Law Committee want the House to pass a bill requiring voters to show photo identification before getting their ballots.

Some Democrats say they suspect the real goal in requiring drivers licenses or other government-issued photo identification is to make it harder for people on the margins of society to vote.

"They don't want students to vote, they don't want immigrants to vote, they don't want poor people to vote," said Francestown Rep. Claudia Chase. (next page »)