New Hampshire Republicans are defending their attack on voting rights by ... hiding the evidence?
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In July 2017, New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed a voter ID-related bill into law that makes it harder for his state’s residents to vote. In classic GOP fashion, he described the measure as “protect[ing] the integrity of New Hampshire’sNew Hampshire Republicans are defending their attack on voting rights by ... hiding the evidence?
In July 2017, New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed a voter ID-related bill into law that makes it harder for his state’s residents to vote. In classic GOP fashion, he described the measure as “protect[ing] the integrity of New Hampshire’s electoral process.” He might as well have said “ensuring the oppression of potential Democratic voters.” Now facing legal challenges, Republicans aren’t even trying to prove their law’s sound—instead, they’re trying to hide the evidence that it’s not. Voting rights proponents—in this case, the League of Women Voters and the New Hampshire Democratic Party—have challenged the constitutionality of the law, called Senate Bill 3, in state court. Thing is, they need data to prove it. The plaintiffs argued that they need the entire database to support their case that Senate Bill 3 imposes an unconstitutional restriction on the right to vote and is an attempt to suppress voting by some people who are more likely to vote for Democrats. The plaintiffs said they want the data so their expert can “perform individual voter-level analyses that he can use to provide the court with information about who is burdened by Senate Bill 3, as well as the scope of those burdens.” Instead of getting to proceed directly to challenging the law, advocates are mired in a legal battle over getting the information they need to move forward. It’s a battle they’re likely to win, but not before Republicans have tried every empty argument and underhanded legislative maneuver they can think up. After a lower court ordered the state to release the information to the plaintiffs challenging the law, the GOP sent the attorney general to the state supreme court to argue that doing so is illegal under state law. NB: That’s a desperate move; they haven’t even gone to trial in the lower court. Hedging their bets, Republicans in the state legislature are also trying to pass a bill that specifically forbids the release of voter data in response to subpoenas and pursuant to discovery in civil litigation. Six of the seven members of the House-Senate committee of conference are Republicans; the sole Democrat refused to sign off. Soon it’ll be seven Republicans. Translation: The courts are the best and likely only way to protect voters. New Hampshire Republicans’ quest to hide voting data is ironic as well as outrageous. Sununu & co. were all too happy to send voting data when it was President Donald J. Trump doing the asking. Read more