Granite State Times

New Hampshire residents are being urged to tell their U.S. Senators to reject a piece of legislation that critics argue would strip away essential election safeguards, even as New Hampshire General Court is considering legislation to tighten election protections.

Titled “Safeguards,” the organization Restoration Action is paying approximately $2 million to run the ad in New Hampshire, Nevada and Georgia, according to an organization press release.

“We must protect the integrity of elections in America,” Restoration Action Founder and President Doug Truax was quoted as saying in the release. 

The legislation, which has been entitled “The For the People Act of 2021” includes a number of provisions related to voting, campaign finance and ethics.

The act is intended “To expand Americans’ access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, strengthen ethics rules for public servants, and implement other anti-corruption measures for the purpose of fortifying our democracy, and for other purposes,” according to the preamble.

However, Restoration Action claimed that the actual intent of the bill is to remove critical election safeguards, such as by eliminating voter ID laws and signature verification on absentee ballots. Restoration Action stated that the act would effectively permit non-citizens to vote in U.S. elections.

“This legislation strips away critical safeguards necessary to ensure our elections are free, fair and transparent,” Truax was quoted as saying in the release.

Currently, 75% of likely U.S. voters are in favor of requiring voters to show a photo ID in order to vote, according to a recent poll by Rasmussen Reports. This is an increase since 2018, when 67% of the same group were in favor of voter ID requirements.

The bill would also require states to establish a system that gathers information from all state agencies and automatically register anyone who, for instance, applies for services or assistance or even someone who enrolls at a university where they are a state resident. Individuals would still be permitted to decline being registered to vote, and agencies are expected to determine whether or not the individual is eligible to vote.

However, while the law would require the individual to be notified they are going to be registered to vote unless they decline, as well as their obligation to inform the agency if they believe they are not eligible, the act would also protect someone from prosecution who is ineligible to vote due to being a non-citizen, but was still automatically registered to vote.

Meanwhile, at the state level, House Bill 86 would go the other direction, eliminating same-day voter registration and requiring voters to be registered with a particular party in order to vote in that party’s primary, according to coverage by The New Hampshire.