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发帖数: 29846 | 1 New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary makes history
every four years, and on Feb. 9 it will do so for an additional reason.
This year, for the first time, primary voters will have to show ID.
"I think there are definitely going to be lines, with any indication of our
absentee balloting already -- it’s huge," said Kerri Parker, the town clerk
of Meredith, N.H., and president of the New Hampshire Town and City Clerks
Association.
"People are concerned, they want to get out, they want their voice to be
heard, which is great," she said, but cautioned that "the only thing they
need to remember is to bring their ID's to the polls. … We have to see your
ID because of voter fraud."
Tens of thousands of new voters are expected to flood the polls, and they
will need to show up with a valid photo ID, which can include a driver’s
license, passport, military ID, and even some student ID's from colleges and
schools approved by the state.
The requirement was first implemented in the 2012 general election, and even
though officials say there have been few cases of voter fraud, illegal
voting has occurred.
Lorin Schneider, Jr., who lives in Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to wrongful
voting charges for illegally voting in New Hampshire three times. He cast
his ballots in the 2008 presidential election and again in both the
presidential primary and general election in 2012. He was fined roughly $7,
000, given a suspended prison term and lost his right to vote in the state.
This month, Manchester resident Derek Castonguay also pleaded guilty to
voter fraud after prosecutors say he voted illegally and tried to vote twice
during the mid-term election in 2014. He also was given a suspended jail
term and fined $1,000.
The controversial issue of voter fraud also has been injected into the 2016
presidential race.
"Voter fraud, look. You have to have real security with the voting system.
This voting system is out of control," Donald Trump charged during an
appearance on Jan. 5 in Claremont, N.H. "You have people, in my opinion,
that are voting many, many times. They don't want security, they don't want
cards."
"I don't have any reason to believe there is rampant voter fraud," countered
New Hampshire's long-serving Secretary of State Bill Gardner, who is
overseeing the use of voter ID. While he says it "has worked very well," he
also acknowledges there have been some instances of voter fraud in his
state.
"It happens. We know that it happens, because we have the records that it
happened. But that was all part of how people tried to come together to come
up with a process that protects it as much as we can ... you're never going
to eliminate attempts to abuse the process," he said.
"It's not impossible, but we've made it very, very difficult to successfully
be able to commit fraud."
Voters who show up at the polls without ID will still be able to vote, but
will have to sign an affidavit attesting that they are who they say they are
. Then election officials will take the voter's photograph with an instant
camera, and attach the photo to the affidavit. The state spent $15,000
buying 320 cameras for local boards of elections.
Gardner wanted to ensure no voter would be turned away from a polling place
without being able to vote. But opponents of voter ID also chafe at the
photo requirement.
"Some people can be very sensitive to having their photo taken especially
when it is taken by an official, for an official purpose," said Devon
Chaffee, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New
Hampshire, who believes that voter ID adds an unfair burden and obstacle to
voting, especially for the elderly and minorities.
Chaffee told Fox News she fears the affidavit process, and photography, will
also add to the administrative process of voting and make the expected
lines even longer.
"This will take even additional time and resources for the polling officials
and we are concerned that that might also result in increasing lines," she
said.
Gardner told Fox News that no voter has been denied the right to vote
because of voter ID, and he is confident election officials will be prepared.
"The number of people that have shown up at the polls without any
identification is much smaller than almost anyone thought. During the debate
on the issue, there were some who believed that 10 to 11 percent of the
population would be affected by this, the other side thought it would only
be 1 percent, and it has ended up less than one-half of 1 percent, so it has
been a much smaller number."
Parker said she, and her fellow election officials, are ready for any
possible cheaters.
"If somebody really wants to do that and they think that that's important I
think somebody will eventually figure out a way,” she said. “But in the
state of New Hampshire, I am pretty confident that we are good at what we do
." |
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