Voters requesting a ballot in New Hampshire could no longer be able to use an ID card issued by a college or high school under a measure that cleared the House on Wednesday.
The Republican-backed bill passed on a 190-148 vote. It will now head to the New Hampshire Senate.
Under New Hampshire’s voter ID laws, drivers licenses and other identification cards issued by a department of motor vehicles, along with passports and military identification, are acceptable forms of photo identification when requesting a ballot. Student identification cards issued by accredited public and private high schools, as well as colleges and universities in New Hampshire, have also been accepted under current law.
Rep. Ross Berry, a Republican from Weare who chairs the House Election Law Committee, told colleagues that identification cards issued by a school lack security standards.
“It's not going to be something that you can print off of a card or you can buy on eBay for $20,” he said. “It's going to be a legitimate government-issued ID.”
The bill was criticized by Democrats who said that there was no evidence of voter impersonation using college identification cards, and that the measure was little more than an effort to make it harder for young people to cast ballots.
“The reality behind this bill is it’s a blatant attempt to unconstitutionally prohibit students, who are already registered and qualified voters in New Hampshire, from exercising their undeniable constitutional right to vote,” said Rep. James Newsom, a Democrat from Contoocook.
Newsom warned that the measure, if it were to become law, could end up being challenged in court.
The original version of the bill proposed other changes to the state’s voter identification law, including requiring only drivers licenses issued by the New Hampshire Department of Motor Vehicles be accepted. That language was stripped from the final version of the bill, however, meaning IDs issued by other states would still be accepted.
House Republicans passed a separate bill Wednesday that seeks to end a rarely used provision in the state’s voter ID law that permits certain election officials to allow people to vote who don’t have an identification, as long as the official recognizes the person.
