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Should NH share voter rolls for crosscheck?

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On Tuesday, March 1 the House Election Law Committee will host a public hearing on a bill that would require New Hampshire to participate in the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program.

The hearing is technically on an amendment to House Bill 1482, but the amendment would replace the entire bill text.  HB 1482, as originally written, forms a committee to study ways to improve the statewide voter registration database.

States participating in the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program share their voter rolls.  The program cross-checks for any matches on first name, last name, and birth date.  The program sends the list of matching names back to each state to investigate.  

Supporters of the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program argue that many citizens are still registered to vote in states where they no longer live.  Prior to the program, there was no way to ensure that these voters did not commit fraud by voting in two states.  

Opponents of the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program argue that there are far too many false positives to make the tool useful.  After all, many people in the U.S. have the save first name, last name, and birth date.  It takes extensive resources for states to investigate each possible match, and even then there is still a risk of removing a legitimate voter from registration lists. 

There are other voter crosschecking programs, such as the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), that compare voters using more data points. 

Do you think New Hampshire should participate in the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program?  Comment below.

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