Case Summary
LWVNH and partners filed a federal lawsuit in New Hampshire challenging HB 1569, a new law that imposed documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and abolished the option for voters to sign a sworn affidavit that would allow them to vote when their eligibility was challenged at the polls. The law was scheduled to take effect after the 2024 general election.
On September 17, 2024, the New Hampshire legislature enacted House Bill (HB) 1569, a voter suppression bill that was scheduled to go into effect after the 2024 general election on November 11. Among other provisions, HB 1569 creates two substantial new hurdles for New Hampshirites attempting to register to vote and cast a ballot.
First, the new law requires voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and cast a ballot. Prospective voters will no longer be allowed to execute a “Qualified Voter Affidavit” swearing under penalty of perjury that they are qualified to vote as an alternative to presenting documentary proof of citizenship. Citizenship could be proven by presenting a birth certificate, passport, naturalization papers if the applicant is a naturalized citizen, or “any other reasonable documentation.” "Reasonable documentation” is not defined in the text of the bill.
Second, the bill removes the state’s “Challenged Voter Affidavit,” which has long been in place for registered voters whose eligibility to vote was challenged at the polls. Challenged voters who did not have the requisite documentation to prove their eligibility to vote at the polls could swear under penalty of perjury that they were legally entitled to vote. HB 1569 eliminates this option for registered voters who are challenged on Election Day. Without the Challenged Voter Affidavit, eligible voters can be disenfranchised if a moderator decides the challenge is “more likely than not” to be “well grounded,” the standard provided for adjudicating challenges to voter eligibility.
On September 30, 2024, the League of Women Voters of New Hampshire (“LWVNH”), Coalition for Open Democracy, The Forward Foundation, and five current and future individual voters filed a lawsuit against New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan and New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella. The plaintiffs alleged HB 1569 was unconstitutional and violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution by substantially burdening New Hampshirites’ right to vote. Their complaint requested the court: (1) temporarily prohibit enforcement of HB 1569; and (2) permanently strike down the law.
LWVNH is represented by the ACLU of NH, the ACLU Voting Rights Project, and Ropes & Gray LLP.
LWV Timeline
Plaintiffs file lawsuit
LWVNH and partners file a lawsuit in federal court challenging HB 1569, which imposed new restrictions on voter registration and removed the ability of voters to use an affidavit to swear under penalty of perjury that they were legally entitled to vote when challenged at the polls.
District court partially denies motion to dismiss
The court rules the League, and several other organizational plaintiffs, have standing to assert that HB 1569's elimination of the Qualified Voter Affidavit violates the right to vote under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Another organizational plaintiff was allowed to argue abolishing the Challenged Voter Affidavit violates procedural due process and the right to vote. The court dismisses the plaintiffs' Equal Protection Clause claim.
District court issues ruling after trial
The district court rules the repeal of the Qualified Voter Affidavit and Challenged Voter Affidavit violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. The court also rules that the repeal of the Challenged Voter Affidavit violates procedural due process under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Defendants appeal district court judgment
The defendants file a notice of appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.