Gov. Chris Sununu wants to make it more difficult and expensive for young people to vote in New Hampshire. He showed us that when he signed House Bill 1264 into law last year, despite telling members of the New Hampshire Youth Movement that he would never do anything to suppress the vote.
While New Hampshire claims to be working to attract and retain more young people, students in our state are soon to be subject to paying hundreds of dollars in automotive fees if they choose to vote in local elections. As young people invest in getting an education here, this legislation tells students that they are not welcome.
Right now, more high school students leave New Hampshire for their degrees than any other state (59%), largely due to having the highest in-state tuition in the country. If we want to protect our economy and community, we must make it easier to stay and participate here.
The Granite State is an incredible place to get connected to local politics, but with these new barriers, it’s unlikely that these students will get engaged and ultimately stay here.
I write this as a young person who is invested in making New Hampshire a better place for others to live and thrive, but there’s a lot of work to do. I call on Gov. Sununu to keep his promise to young people by signing HB 106, which will repeal the previous legislation he signed and allow students to vote freely again in our state.
JOSIE PINTO
Concord