Lynch's first veto this year kills voter ID

Gov. John Lynch, in his first veto of the year, killed a bill yesterday that would have required people to show photo identification before they could vote.

"Our responsibility as elected officials is to protect every citizen's constitutional right to vote and to ensure that any proposed changes to our voting system do not create unnecessary barriers to voting. We should be encouraging people to vote, not discouraging them," he said in his veto message.

Supporters of the bill that would have required voters to show photo I.D. before getting a ballot argued that photo identification provides a safeguard against fraud and is required for many activities besides voting.

Lynch said that allegations of voter fraud in 2004 were unfounded, and he cited a report from the attorney general's office that found, "New Hampshire's local election officials are the front line of defense against voter fraud and our investigations support the conclusion that most local officials do an excellent job."

Some lawmakers also objected to a provision allowing election workers to give ballots to people they know without requiring identification.

The bill arose, in part, out of the 2004 election after reports of people voting twice, nonresidents voting and problems with vote counts. The House bill was introduced by Rep. Howie Lund, a Republican from Derry. The measure passed the House in February by a vote of 205-153. The Senate approved the voter I.D. bill 14-9.

Right-to-know sidetracked

The Senate sidetracked another bill Thursday, tabling an ambitious overhaul of the state's Right-to-Know Law, probably until next year.

The proposal would require a two-thirds vote for it to be considered again this session.

"It would take a miracle to bring it back," Senate Majority Leader Robert Clegg said.

The bill was an effort to update rules about access to meetings and records in light of changing technology. It would have required public access to meetings of selectmen and other government bodies by teleconference or other real-time means.

It would have allowed boards and agencies to circulate draft documents outside of official meetings, but it required that anything distributed to a quorum of the members be made available to the public at the next meeting.

Some senators had reservations about the bill's implications for the Senate itself, whose 24 members belong to multiple committees and sometimes vote on committee recommendations with as few as two members present.

"The way quorum was defined, it would have prevented one senator from talking to another," Clegg said. "The biggest issue we had is we couldn't figure out how to make it work for the Senate."

Clegg said issues raised by members of the news media also need to be addressed. The media's complaints included concerns that e-mails sent by one member of a governmental body to another and then to others might be withheld from the public on grounds that a quorum wasn't involved.

The bill said such sequential e-mails should not be used to circumvent the spirit of the law.

The bill allows a quorum of a board to discuss government business during a "chance social meeting" as long as no decisions are made. Current law has a similar provision.

Critics say the bill would go further by allowing decisions to be made at chance encounters as long as everything is disclosed at the next public meeting.

An existing Right-to-Know Oversight Commission will continue to meet and probably will introduce a revised bill and bring back before the Legislature next year.

Funds for flood victims

The Senate on Thursday approved spending $2.9 million to buy up to 34 properties in the flood damaged towns of Alstead, Langdon and Walpole.

The governor plans to travel to Alstead to sign the bill approving the state buyout of property damaged by flooding last October. (next page »)