Granite State Times

Nationwide Republican-led election integrity efforts have drawn fire from Democrats as being too restrictive.

In a recent statement, U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-New Hampshire) derided these measures, including proposed legislation in Texas, as a form of voter suppression.

As Republicans across the nation have been pushing for new election integrity legislation, Texas GOP members have recently proposed Texas voter legislation bills Senate Bill 1 and Senate Bill 7 for measures they say would increase the security of elections.

SB 1 would require state ID or a Social Security number to be included for the submission of all mail-in ballots. SB 7 would reform current Texas voting laws to eliminate drive-through and 24-hour voting, change the legal standard for voter fraud from “beyond a reasonable doubt” to “by a preponderance of the evidence,” and would also contain provisions requiring state ID or Social Security number for mail-in ballots.

“It says everything you need to know when a political party, using the lies they created about the last election, undertakes a nationwide effort to restrict voting access,” Pappas wrote in a Mar. 26 Tweet. “We the People means all the people, and laws like this tear at the fabric of our democracy.”

Conservatives say that the New Hampshire congressman's allegations of voter suppression are questionable in light of New Hampshire's voting policies, which in some ways are similar or more restrictive than those of Texas.

New Hampshire currently does not allow early voting under any circumstances, according to Ballotpedia.

The National Conference of State Legislatures reported that Texas allows early voting 17 days before an election and ends early voting four days prior to the election, totaling 13 days of early voting. This is much more lenient than New Hampshire's policy and is considered an average amount of time for early voting across the nation.

Ballotpedia reports that New Hampshire does not permit no-excuse absentee voting. Rather, the state requires voters to provide a valid reason why they cannot cast a ballot in person. Such excuses include being out of town, observing a religious commitment, being physically disabled, being unable to leave work or doing military service.

The Lone Star State similarly does not allow no-excuse absentee voting, according to the Texas State Law Library. Rather, it allows absentee voting for those out of town, sick, disabled, 65 or older or those serving time in jail.

New Hampshire does not allow automatic voter registration, but it does allow same-day registration, and New Hampshire — like Texas — has a voter ID requirement.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Texas and New Hampshire are among 36 states that require voters to show some form of identification at the polls.

A NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll shows that of 1,115 adults, 79% of respondents, believe that voters should be required to show government-issued photo identification.