Residency, not domicile, for voting rights?
On Wednesday, January 3 the New Hampshire Senate passed a bill that revises the definitions of residence and domicile so that a person living in New Hampshire must be a resident in order to vote. Under current state law, a person only needs to be domiciled in New Hampshire to vote. Read more about this issue.
Should New Hampshire change the definition of ‘residence’ and ‘domicile’ so that a voter must be a resident – not just domiciled – in New Hampshire?
Discussion held on Citizens Count NH website and Facebook page January 6, 2018
Yes: 237 people were in favor of requiring voters to be resident, not just domiciled, in NH in order to vote here.
- “You should have to be a resident (have your permanent address here) of New Hampshire to be able to vote here. Otherwise, you get people (like college students) from out of state who can impact decisions made for the state even though they don't live here.”
- “Absolutely... A person should be a NH resident in order to vote. No more drive-by voting by non-residents. Let's get this cleaned up!”
- “Only residents of NH should vote in NH and with a valid ID. Not rocket science.”
No: 35 people were opposed to requiring voters to be resident, not just domiciled, in NH in order to vote here.
- “No… If they are living in this state, then state policy affects them. They should get just as much a say as any other person.”
- “We should be encouraging people to vote, not make it more difficult.”
- “I was a student here and was able to vote because of the way NH law is written. Many people are in NH most of the time for perfectly legitimate reasons, why make it hard or impossible for them to vote?”
Other: 23 citizens addressed their comments to related questions and issues.
These included:
- Alternative policies: “I also support a national voter ID.”
- Additional requirements: “Proof of citizenship should be required.”
*Editor selection of actual participant quotes.
