Sponsor: Voter ID bill in jeopardy

A voter identification bill that had the support of the Senate, town clerks and the secretary of state's office is in jeopardy because of changes made yesterday by a House committee, said Sen. Russell Prescott, a Kingston Republican and the bill's sponsor.

The House Election Law Committee voted 13-7 to require photo identification at the polls months earlier than clerks say is feasible, and to disallow students to use their IDs to vote. The changes, if passed by the full House, would take effect immediately, for this year's general election. Prescott's bill pushed the start date to elections after Jan. 2013, to give voters and clerks time to get used to the new requirements.

'I worked really hard with (clerks and state officials) to make a clean voter ID bill,' Prescott said yesterday. 'We have a bill I think a lot of people support. I am saddened that this amendment has passed.'

The secretary of state's office said this week the changes would be impossible to make in time for this year's election. Nancy Johnson, lobbyist for the state's town and city clerks, left yesterday's vote looking discouraged.

'We are opposed to this, and we continue to support the Senate's version,' she said. 'We agree with what the secretary of state has said. We can (implement voter identification) but not this year. The timing (passed yesterday) is very bad.'

If the bill reaches Gov. John Lynch, it could be in trouble if the amendments stick.

'We are concerned about the direction the bill has taken in the House,' Lynch's spokesman, Colin Manning, said yesterday. 'The governor has been very clear that any voter ID bill would have to ensure a person's constitutional right to vote is protected and that all votes count. The Senate version seemed to go in that direction.'

Rep. Will Smith, a New Castle Republican, sponsored the changes that passed yesterday. Smith said yesterday the subcommittee that put together the changes believed there is voter fraud in New Hampshire that needs serious and immediate attention.

There has long been a push for stricter voter identification laws, but the issue came to the forefront in January after undercover videos showed men obtaining primary ballots using the names of deceased voters.

Prescott's bill, which passed the Senate 18-5 in March, required ballot clerks to request photo identification from voters in 2012 but also let them vote without it. If voters did not have a photo identification at the polls the next year, they would be asked to sign an affidavit verifying their identity.

Anyone who voted that way would receive a letter within 90 days from the secretary of state's office asking them to return it with written verification that the person at the address had voted. If the letter was undeliverable or the response indicated the person didn't vote, the state attorney general's office would investigate.

Under the changes made yesterday, voters would be asked for photo identification this year but permitted to vote without it if they signed an affidavit verifying their identity. The moderator or a designee must then take a photograph of the voter and attach a printout of the image to the affidavit.

Smith estimated that it would cost about $75,000 to buy camera and printing equipment for all the state's nearly 330 voting stations. He said his intention would be to get federal voter enhancement money to cover the cost.

He also said the purchase would not go out to competitive bid because there isn't time and the subcommittee didn't consider the expense great enough to warrant it.

Rep. David Cote, a Nashua Democrat, questioned why student identification cards had been eliminated. Rep. David Pierce, an Etna Democrat, did as well, and said after the hearing that he believes it's an attempt to keep students from voting.

He referred to a video on YouTube of House Speaker Bill O'Brien complaining that students 'vote their feelings' in towns and take away a town's ability to 'govern itself.'

Smith said university officials persuaded the subcommittee that student identifications were not reliable for voter identification. He said student identification cards are easily made and not thoroughly verified.

'It's bereft of any serious attempt to match a face with a name,' he said.

Pierce and Rep. Kathleen Hoelzel, a Raymond Republican who is also the town's moderator, voted against the changes yesterday. Requiring voters to sign affidavits and be photographed so soon will create long lines and discourage people from voting, she said.

She and others said the amendment that passed yesterday will lead to voter disenfranchisement.

Rep. David Bates, a Windham Republican and chairman of the committee, disagreed and said there is nothing in the amended bill that would interfere with a person's right to vote.

Voters who do not have a photo identification would be able to get one from the state at the state's expense, Smith said. Several committee members questioned how someone who is homeless or does not have a driver's license would be able to show enough identification to get that state card.

Both Pierce and Hoelzel said they supported the idea of requiring voter identification. But the changes are unreasonable, they said. 'We are making it harder to vote,' Pierce said.

The bill will go before the full House next week. If it passes there, it will go to the Senate, where senators can accept the changes or reject them and request a chance to work out the difference with the House.

(Annmarie Timmins can be reached at 369-3323 or atimmins@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @annmarietimmins.)