New Hampshire’s New Voting Laws Will Keep Eligible Citizens from the Ballot Box
Voter “integrity” laws solve no problem but silence real voters
Imagine this: you show up at your local polling place in Wolfeboro or Conway, only to be told you cannot vote because your driver’s license expired last month or your birth certificate is sitting in another state. You’re a citizen, you’ve voted for decades, but under New Hampshire’s new voting laws, you are turned away.
That’s not a hypothetical. In the past two years, New Hampshire has enacted some of the strictest voting laws in the nation. Supporters claim these changes are about protecting election integrity. But in reality, they create unnecessary barriers for thousands of Granite Staters — while addressing a problem that doesn’t exist.
What Changed
In 2024, the Legislature passed House Bill 1569, which eliminated the long-standing option for voters without documents to sign an affidavit affirming their eligibility. For decades, affidavits ensured that eligible voters could still cast a ballot, and there has been no evidence that they were ever abused. With HB 1569, that option disappeared.
Then, in 2025, two additional bills, Senate Bill 287 and Senate Bill 218, tightened the requirements for absentee voting. Now, voters must present a valid photo ID in person when requesting an absentee ballot. If applying by mail, they must submit a notarized signature, a copy of their ID, age, and residency.
Citizenship documents are required only if a voter is not already registered and is asking to register by mail as well as vote absentee. Only those who can’t get to the town clerk to register (disabled, out of town) are allowed to register by mail. This new law puts absentee registrants on an equal basis with in-person registrants. (League of Women Voters)
In short: no documents, no vote.
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