Midterm elections were held in 2022 and to the detriment of voting rights advocates, only about 15% of New Hampshire 18 year olds were registered to vote! Eight Democratic Representatives put together House Bill 1014 which was signed into law earlier this month by Gov. Sununu.
While there is already a previous law authorizing middle and high schools to issue copies of the state’s voting laws and state constitution to students, HB1014 will now mandate “information on the laws governing election and voting” to be included in civics and history education. The goal of this new legislation is to require schools to use the information to strengthen “the role, opportunities, and responsibilities of a citizen to engage in civic activity,” while educating students on the functions and role of government.
Unfortunately, an amendment was added to the bill by the Senate which now requires any public school district, city or town to use the official name for state holidays. Example – no more referring to “Columbus Day” as “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”
Seriously . . .?
The bill takes effect Sept. 12th, which should give those who are just turning 18 plenty of time to register, find out where they need to go to vote and then do so on Nov. 5th.
Also signed by Sununu was House Bill 1098, permitting town clerks, assistant clerks, and clerks pro tem to deliver absentee ballots to nursing homes and other elder care facilities. Another bill signed into law was House Bill 243. City and town election officials will now be obliged to permit members of the public to observe voting tabulators that are used during an election. Also requires these officials to display the printed results within one hour of running the tabulators.
With all this in mind, let’s be sure to GOTV in November!