Election Integrity - August 19, 2022 Windham Independent

Election Integrity

The right to vote is one of the most important rights we have, and therefore it is worth protecting.

I am concerned about our current voting laws because they allow the use of affidavits (written statements signed in front of the supervisors of the checklist) on voting day. When you go to the Town Hall to register as a voter, you have to prove 4 elements: your identity, age, residence and citizenship, each of which needs to be proven through the proper paperwork - no affidavits accepted.

But when you register as a voter at the polls on election day, no such proof is needed. One can just sign affidavits to “prove” any of the 4 elements, and then is allowed to vote. A new law passed this year is changing the way those ballots are handled, but it will not apply until 2023, and it uses a rather complicated method to validate those ballots after the election ends, which could result in election results being delayed in close races.

We need legislation stating that while voters should continue to be allowed to register at the polls, the documentation required for registering on voting day must be the same documentation required when one registers to vote at Town Hall. If voter ID will be required, the state shall issue it at no cost to any eligible voter.

My second concern is that New Hampshire allows people whose domicile is out of state to vote in NH if (for example) they have a summer house in New Hampshire, even if they only spend a few weeks a year in our state. I believe that people should not be allowed to pick and choose which state they want to vote in, but should only vote in the state they have their primary residence in. 

    Changing this will require a constitutional amendment, and I will work to pass one that will ensure that only people who actually live in New Hampshire vote in New Hampshire.

Neither of those measures will disenfranchise any voter - every person who is eligible to vote will be able to vote in the town they actually live in. In New Hampshire, every vote counts and can change the result of an election (plenty of such examples exist) so every vote cast by someone who is not (or should not be) an eligible voter can affect us all.

I plan to protect your right to vote by making sure that only people who have the right to vote do so. If elected, I will support legislation requiring that one actually proves their identity, age, citizenship and residence rather than just sign affidavits before voting and I will also support the constitutional amendment described above.

You can reach me at (603) 267 4142 or dpmwindham@gmail.com. I am grateful to all who put their faith in me in the past and hope to earn your support on September 13th.

Daniel Popovici-Muller

Republican Candidate for State Representative