You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
Partial good news on the badly gerrymandered Congressional districts in NH. The full NH Senate passed SB 52 last Thursday, but Governor Sununu issued a statement after the vote and signaled he would veto the bill when it reached his desk.
The gerrymandered Executive Council map from 2010 received no changes and will stay the same for the next 10 years, thus receiving an “interim study” recommendation from the committee. The House maps have passed both chambers, and the Senate voting maps, drawn to guarantee at least a 15-vote Republican majority, await a hearing in the NH House Election Law committee.
Overshadowed by the Governor’s veto announcement was SB 418, which was passed the Senate Election Law & Municipal Affairs committee. This establishes a provisional ballot in NH, potentially disenfranchising thousands of voters who use NH’s qualified voter affidavit system. Euphemistically called “Affidavit Ballots,” these ballots require the voter to return with documentation within 10 days for the vote to count. This bill targets students, many of whom use NH’s Same-day registration system.
As with so many Big Lie bills being proposed, SB 418 disenfranchises far more honest voters than the tiny number of dishonest ones.
Granny D said, “Democracy is not something we HAVE, it’s something we DO.”
For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.