NH Gov. Chris Sununu helps suppress voting rights in New Hampshire.
Call me naive, but I thought it had been settled law that poll taxes were illegal and unconstitutional. Every resident should have the right to vote, regardless of their financial standing. Right?
Well, apparently the Republicans don’t think so.
...Here is their latest attack on voting rights. It’s happening in New Hampshire, which annoyed Republicans no end in 2016 by going to Hillary. I mean, the nerve!
This little poison pill is called HB 1264, and according to Ashley Marcoux, New Hampshire Field Director of Let America Vote (letamericavote.org), here are the gory details:
The governor just signed a Republican-backed bill that creates a poll tax in New Hampshire. HB 1264 requires voters to pay to get a New Hampshire driver's license or ID, AND pay up to hundreds of dollars in fees to register their vehicle to the state of New Hampshire, all just to vote. That means students and the military will be disenfranchised.
Naturally, the GOP is pushing this because it will make it harder for young people, students, and the indigent — groups that heavily vote Democrat---to qualify as voter “residents” in the state. Worse, the bill is a wolf in sheep’s clothing: while posing as a simple voters-must-live-in-the-state regulation, it actually imposes steep financial requirements—state driver’s license, state auto registration---just to qualify to vote.
There is a good chance that by challenging the bill in Court, its opponents can—and should---have it ruled unconstitutional, as it imposes heavy burdens on eligible voters. But it is a good example of the kind of dirty tricks up the GOP sleeve to attempt to suppress the Democratic groundswell we are expecting this year. We should be on the lookout for this kind of attack on voting rights by the GOP in every state.
