Is Voter ID on its way to NH?

New Hampshire doesn’t have a voter fraud problem, and Republican lawmakers want to keep it that way by requiring photo ID from voters.

Expect a spirited debate when the House votes on Senate Bill 129 in its full session Wednesday.

The rules

If enacted, the measure would go into effect before the 2012 general election and would require voters to present an approved form of identification to ballot clerks before being given a ballot.

Those without a proper form of ID — such as a driver’s license, military ID, or a state-issued photo ID — would be allowed to cast a provisional ballot and would have three days to present proper ID to voting officials.

The controversy

The measure steps into a Constitutional minefield of issues, starting with the possibility that it infringes on the right to vote by creating onerous safeguards. According to a Nashua Telegraph story this morning, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Mavrogeorge told members of the House Republican Caucus that requiring voters to pay $10 for a state-issued ID may violate the N.H. Constitution and amount to a “poll tax,” which was outlawed by the 24^th amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1964. One provision in the amended bill would allow potential voters who couldn’t afford the $10 to apply for a voucher.

House Speaker William O’Brien (R-Mont Vernon) has thrown his full leadership weight behind SB 129. Sponsored by Sen. Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry), the bill passed the Senate in March by a nearly party-line 18-6 vote. O’Brien is quoted in the Telegraph story as saying that the costs to vote are reasonable because “there are costs to vote today” such as time off from work or paying for gas to get to the polls.

Opponents of the bill say it’s unnecessary, targets a phantom issue and creates additional costs for local election officials.

While there have been a handful of investigations by the offices of the Secretary of State and Attorney General, there has been only one substantiated case of voter fraud in the past decade in New Hampshire. Secretary of State Bill Gardner has long contended that the state doesn’t have such a problem.

In a blistering minority report opposing the bill, Rep. David Pierce (D-Etna) said the bill should have been retained because the Election Law Committee failed to carefully consider the constitutional implications:

“The committee did not discuss whether the bill is constitutional under Part I, Article 11 of the New Hampshire constitution. The committee never even discussed the framework that should be used to analyze its constitutionality. The committee couldn’t answer the question about whether the bill would be subject to the constitution’s rational basis test or to a strict scrutiny analysis. The list of substantial and genuine questions about the bill goes on and on. … The right to vote is the most fundamental right we have to keep government in its place. We ought to know what we’re doing before we reform it in such a profound and fundamental way.”

The Daily Briefing expects SB 129 will pass handily — and, if it becomes law, that its constitutionality ultimately will be decided in the state Supreme Court.

>> Wednesday, May 4, full House session vote on SB 129. Session begins at 10:00 a.m. at Representatives Hall in the State House.

This Daily Briefing was written by Michael McCord.

Do you want to show your ID when you go to vote next time? Would you trust ballot results more if your neighbors had to?

(Comments below, policy here.)