State Senate Passes HB 315 to Pull New Hampshire Out of the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck

May 30, 2019

Contact Name: Sara Persechino

Phone: (603) 271-3479

Email: Sara.Persechino@leg.state.nh.us

CONCORD—Today, the New Hampshire Senate passed HB 315, 14-10, relative to the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program.

Senator Melanie Levesque (D-Nashua), Chair of the Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee, released the following statement after the vote:

“As the first-in-the-nation primary state, with the eyes of the country upon us, ensuring that New Hampshire’s elections are fair and secure could not be more important. Unfortunately, our state is currently relying on a flawed program to maintain accurate voter rolls—the Interstate Crosscheck System, which has also stopped functioning since January of 2017. Since New Hampshire entered the program it has become apparent that the program is ineffective and vulnerable to nefarious outside actors, which is why it was shut down.

Fortunately, today the Senate voted in support of allowing New Hampshire to find a better, more reliable and secure option for New Hampshire, for example, the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). If Governor Sununu signs HB 315, our state can join this system used by more than half the states in the country, both red and blue, with a mission to help state and local election officials improve the accuracy of their voter rolls, register eligible citizens, reduce costs, identify possible cases of improper voting, and improve efficiencies in the voting process.

New Hampshire has a long and proud history of engagement in the democratic process. To ensure this tradition continues and our elections are as secure and fair as possible, our state has only one option and so I urge governor to sign HB 315 to protect the integrity of our elections.”

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