New Hampshire is one of about a dozen remaining states that doesn’t allow online voter registration — but a bill introduced this year could change that. Similar proposals surfaced in 2016 and 2017, but neither gained traction — in part, because they lacked buy-in from the Secretary of State’s office. Now, Deputy Secretary of State Dave Scanlan said they’re open to the idea, but they want the proposal to go through a study committee for more consideration first.
A working group convened several years ago to study the implementation of electronic voter check-in after the issue stirred contentious legislative debate, Scanlan said, and that ultimately allowed the state to come up with a pilot program that’s in the works now.
A similar approach, Scanlan said, might help to find common ground when it comes to online voter registration.
Linda Rhodes, of Durham, and other voting rights advocates in favor of such a system said it could raise New Hampshire’s (already relatively high) turnout rates and alleviate long lines at the polls on Election Day.
Full Article: Online Voter Registration in N.H.? Secretary of State’s Open to Studying It | New Hampshire Public Radio.