New Hampshire residents who register to vote at the polls in this year’s elections will have the option of using an affidavit to prove citizenship, according to guidance from the Secretary of State’s Office.
A federal judge declared House Bill 1569, the law repealing those affidavits, unconstitutional late last month.
The law eliminated affidavits for all eligibility factors, including identity, age and domicile. The court ruling by federal Judge Samantha Elliott, however, restores them only for citizenship.
“Even though voters may now prove citizenship using an affidavit, Secretary [David] Scanlan notes that the unaffected portions of HB 1569 will still increase trust and confidence that all voters who cast a ballot in New Hampshire elections are qualified to do so,” the office said in a statement.
Before the law was signed by former Gov. Chris Sununu in 2024, voters who showed up at the polls without proper documentation could sign affidavits, under penalty of voter fraud, to swear that they were being truthful about their eligibility to vote. The Secretary of State’s Office would later follow up to confirm the information given at the polls was accurate.
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