Fred Portnoy: Check voter status and remember to vote this November

To The Daily Sun,

There are shenanigans afoot.

Even though we here in New Hampshire are blessed with well-run elections, and most of us, especially in the small towns, know and trust our election workers. (Thanks to election workers.)

Still we are not immune to changes being made in election law that could make it more difficult to vote and especially to register to vote. For instance, a student ID is no longer good enough for check-in at the polling place. A current drivers license showing a current address, or other government issued ID is required. To register to vote, residents need a birth certificate or passport. If a name or residence has changed, documentation is needed to show the current status.

It is recommended by many voter rights organizations that we check our voter registration status once a month leading up to Election Day. That is because voter list purges are now carried out annually instead of every 10 years as it used to be. There are many reasons a voter could be purged from the list, some of them we wouldn't necessarily think of. A name change due to marriage, for instance. Placing property into a trust could trigger a change in some government records.

To check voter registration status, either visit the town clerk, or go online to app.sos.nh.gov/voterinformation. After entering all the data, don't forget to scroll all the way down to see the results.

Most of all, remember to vote.

Fred Portnoy

Canterbury