Voting Rights Roundup: New Hampshire Democrats plan to oust secretary of state over voting rights
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Leading Off ● New Hampshire: The fight for voting rights received a major boost in New Hampshire after Democratic state legislative leaders committed to supporting 2016 gubernatorial nominee Colin Van Ostern for the appointed position of secretary of statVoting Rights Roundup: New Hampshire Democrats plan to oust secretary of state over voting rights
Leading Off ● New Hampshire: The fight for voting rights received a major boost in New Hampshire after Democratic state legislative leaders committed to supporting 2016 gubernatorial nominee Colin Van Ostern for the appointed position of secretary of state if they regain control over the legislature in 2018. That puts Van Ostern on a collision course with Democratic incumbent Bill Gardner, whose initial selection in 1976 and continued reappointment to the post by Republicans has made him the longest-serving secretary of state in the nation. Campaign Action Yet despite his nominal party affiliation, Gardner has long given Republicans cover for their restrictive voting policies and fought efforts to modernize election administration and voting access in the Granite State. Gardner even supported a GOP-backed law in 2017 that imposes tighter residency restrictions in an effort to disenfranchise Democratic-leaning college students. But the straw that broke the camel's back was almost certainly Gardner's decision to faithfully serve on Trump's now-defunct voter suppression commission, lending that partisan witch hunt a false veneer of bipartisanship. Van Ostern has pledged to fight for reforms that include automatic voter registration, a bipartisan independent redistricting commission, a ban on corporate and business donations to state campaigns, and rolling back the GOP's suppression of student voters. That stands in stark contrast to Gardner's intransigence over policies that would make voting easier, and his tacit support for Republican voter suppression schemes that are predicated on the entirely made-up claim that thousands of out-of-state residents were bussed in to illegally vote in New Hampshire in 2016. New Hampshire selects its secretary of state by having both chambers of the legislature vote in a joint sitting. Because the 400-member state House dwarfs the 24-member state Senate, Democrats would likely need to flip only the lower chamber to be able to appoint Van Ostern and finally oust Gardner. Although Republicans have gerrymandered both chambers, New Hampshire's House is notorious for being particularly prone to wild swings in partisan composition from year to year. In a midterm political environment that so far appears to strongly favor Democrats, the party stands a good chance of at least capturing the House and being able to elect a new secretary of state who will fight to secure voting rights. Read more