Who can vote in New Hampshire? Apparently everyone.

If you haven’t been receiving incessant reminders lately from the overly political and underly informed about voter registration, consider yourself lucky. While repeated notifications about voter registration may be aggravating, at least they are harmless. What is concerning, however, is when advocates appear to be improperly using voter registration to advance their own political agenda. 

In the previous academic year, the Dartmouth Democrats made student voting rights one of their critical focuses. Despite their implied characterization of student voting — “heroic youth fighting against villainous adult vote suppressors” – being a tad excessive, House Bill 1264 did create abundant confusion. The law, signed by Governor Chris Sununu in July 2018, created uncertainty surrounding state residency requirements and voter eligibility by requiring all residents to possess a New Hampshire driver’s license. Critics say the bill was an attempt to designate students without NH ID as non-residents, hence withholding their right to vote in the state. The ACLU, representing two Dartmouth students, sued the state in response; however, the case was tossed in May after the NH Supreme Court ruled on another voting rights case, Senate Bill 3. The court determined that “domicile” determines one’s ability to vote in NH, rather than residency, so H.B. 1264, while changing state residency requirements, does not impact voting rights. 

While the H.1264 matter has been settled, given New Hampshire’s high election stakes, concern has been growing regarding students not physically in New Hampshire and residing in other states this semester still voting in New Hampshire to ensure the state remains blue.

In August, State Senator Regina Birdsell expressed alarm over a campus-wide Dartmouth Democrats email that encouraged all Dartmouth students to vote in NH, including those living outside the state through absentee voting. Specifically, she is concerned over the legality of students living outside the state claiming New Hampshire domicile for voting purposes. In remarks to Campus Reform, she stated “if you’re a student and you live on campus in NH, [you’d] be entitled to vote… [but] if [you] don’t have a current residence, and [you’re] taking classes online from Massachusetts or Maine or even Florida, that seems like it would be a different story.”

Indeed, the State Senator raises a valid concern: how can a student, who spent only 10 weeks in NH this year, has not returned to Hanover, and plans to stay outside NH for the remainder of the year be a New Hampshire voter? Common sense would dictate they vote wherever they are living during the election. However, Hanover’s town clerk, Betsy McClain told Campus Reform that “residents of Hanover who may be temporarily away on Election Day are [can] vote absentee, [and that] this is true for Dartmouth students.”

Indeed, her statement confirms that Dartmouth students who registered to vote in Hanover can vote in NH, regardless of their location. That said, uncertainty remained after a member of The Review living out-of-state received a message from NH Democrats explaining how to register to vote in NH. Many would agree that unregistered students not living in NH would have to register and vote in their current state; however, the activist message insinuated otherwise. The Review called McClain for clarification, who affirmed that out-of-state students without voter registrations can register to vote in NH, as long as they have previously lived in the state and intend to return.

While McClain was kind and responsive to our inquiry, on such significant matters, such as voting in a national election, perhaps it would be helpful for higher elected officials, such as NH Secretary of State William Gardner to issue clear public guidelines. With uncertainty heightened due to the pandemic, statewide directions would not only help students at Dartmouth understand their voting rights, but also students at other universities.

Previous Review articles have explored the ethics of students voting in New Hampshire. Indeed, under normal circumstances, the idea of students, who are largely unaffected by local and state policy matters, making decisions on behalf of local New Hampshirites is unsettling. Regardless of how much the Dartmouth Democrats champion themselves as proud New Hampshire residents, the reality is that Dartmouth students live in a bubble — the vast majority of students likely could not even name one local acquaintance from New Hampshire.

But in a state that tends to be a political toss-up, it is in the Democrats’ interest to extract every vote they can from college towns. The three most represented states in Dartmouth’s student body are California, Massachusetts and New York, all blue strongholds. In turn, the Dartmouth Student Assembly carries the College Democrats’ work by constantly hosting “nonpartisan” campus-wide registration drives. Since the vast majority of students — many from solid blue states — vote Democratic anyways, these events can be marketed as neutral, while consolidating Democratic voters in the politically competitive state of New Hampshire.

In fact, New Hampshire’s electoral margins tend to be razor thin, with students often comprising the difference. In 2016, Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan beat the incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte by just over 1,000 votes, smaller than any Dartmouth class. With enough students voting, the needle can be easily pushed blue.

At his February rally in Manchester, when reflecting on the 2016 election, President Donald Trump exclaimed: “We won the [NH] primary tremendously. We should’ve won the [general] election, but they had buses being shipped up from Massachusetts, hundreds and hundreds. And it was very close, even though they did.” White House senior advisor Stephen Miller made similar claims earlier, saying “[the] issue of bussing voters into New Hampshire is widely known by anyone who’s worked in NH politics.” While the NH Secretary of State has denied these allegations, out-of-state vote packing is, indeed, happening in New Hampshire through masses of students, many not residing in the state, voting in its elections — all of which is legal.

In turn, the NH electorate spans well beyond New Hampshire. Simply because this is legal does not mean it is not problematic. State Republicans need to aggressively press this issue to the forefront, and national Republicans need to support their efforts. Specifically, to prevent future electoral blowouts, Republicans have to fight for a clear definition on what constitutes NH voter eligibility — one that does not allow individuals living across the country to strategically vote in the state.

In turn, although they might not pay taxes, own property, use public services, or have spent more than two months in the state this year, students will be deciding New Hampshire elections up and down the ballot – from the presidency, to local town positions. To be honest, through this article, The Review was hoping to highlight concerns regarding potential voter registration irregularities and election fraud. However, while masses of out-of-state students voting in NH seems quite dubious, after thorough research, we have concluded that essentially any human being under the sun is allowed to vote in New Hampshire, and that small states were designed to be packed with student voters by the Democratic Party. Happy election season!