CONCORD, N.H. – A bipartisan effort to end gerrymandering in New Hampshire received a boost Wednesday.

A bill to create an independent advisory commission to redraw lines for political offices had a public hearing in the state Senate, after passing the House of Representatives in February.

House Bill 706 would create a 15-member commission made up of five Republicans, five Democrats and five unaffiliated voters.

State Rep. David Danielson, a Republican from Bedford, is one of 11 co-sponsors. He says a public commission is a better approach to redrawing districts than the traditional closed-door process in the State Capitol.

"Ideally what it does, is it levels the field a bit, so that you don't keep having these overwhelming gerrymandered districts,” he explains. “What the bill does is try to bring more consistency to the process, and also make the process more representative, and that we represent those districts as best we can."

The commission would hold hearings across the state to seek public input on legislative boundaries. At least nine commission members would have to approve any redistricting proposal they send to the General Court.

Under New Hampshire's Constitution, the legislature has the power to approve districts.

Supporters of the idea maintain a public commission would make the drawing of new districts less partisan, and would group voters by common interests rather than party registration.

Many cite the District 2 Executive Council seat, representing an area that spans from the seacoast to the Vermont border, as an example of a district drawn for political reasons.

Danielson says an independent process could even result in fewer partisan battles.

"I would hope that's what it is going to do is, it'll take a little bit of that 'us and them' type of thing out of the process,” he states. “In reality, you know, it's politics, but the intensity won't be as great as it is right now."

House Bill 706 passed the House on a vote of 218 to 123, with bipartisan support. After Wednesday's hearing, the Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee is expected to vote on it next week.


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Veterans and service members in New Hampshire said legislation to create one of the nation's strictest voter ID laws would be a betrayal of their sacrifice.

The bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, and would get rid of the affidavit process to help new voters without documentation.

Curtis Register, a member of the Durham Town Council and a former Marine Corps officer, said birth certificates or naturalization papers can be hard to come by for military members, who regularly relocate or were born on bases overseas.

"These are all real obstacles that service members face and that families of service members face because it's a collective unit," Register observed. "One affects all."

Supporters of the bill argued it is needed to prevent widespread voter fraud, but have failed to provide evidence of electoral abuse. The bill has passed the House and Senate but Gov. Chris Sununu has not said whether he will sign it.

There are roughly 70,000 foreign-born American citizens serving in the military, or about 5% of the total active-duty force. More than 170,000 military members have become naturalized citizens since 2002.

Register noted proposed laws in New Hampshire and elsewhere requiring them to provide more documentation to vote than native-born citizens risks disenfranchising those who fight to preserve our most basic rights.

"It feels like a betrayal of those that have been injured, or sacrificed time away from their kids, or even an ultimate sacrifice; that we have folks trying to take away rights that were given via the Constitution," Register emphasized.

New Hampshire allows for same-day voter registration and opponents of the bill said it could prevent thousands of people from casting a ballot.

Others warned such a law would be unconstitutional. A similar bill in Kansas requiring proof of citizenship to vote was struck down by a federal judge in 2018.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.

As this year's primary approaches, supporters of a voter initiative in Idaho hope future primaries will look different.

Idaho's primaries are being held on Tuesday. Earlier this month, supporters of the open primary initiative exceeded the number of signatures needed to appear on the November ballot and are awaiting verification. The measure would get rid of the state's closed primary system.

Margaret Kinzel, Boise chapter member of the group Mormon Women for Ethical Government, said a small percentage of voters in primaries aligned with the state's dominant Republican Party essentially decide elections.

"If you want to have any voice at all on who your elected officials will be, you have to vote in the Republican primary and with it being closed, you have to align with the Republican Party," Kinzel pointed out.

The initiative would replace the current system with a top-four primary open to everyone, regardless of party affiliation. It would also create a ranked choice voting system for the general election. Opponents argued the systems proposed are too complicated.

Kinzel noted under the current primary system, less moderate candidates have a better shot at winning. She contended the open primaries initiative would change it.

"To promote more civil discourse, you have to appeal to a broader range of voters in order to make it through both the primary and the general election," Kinzel stressed. "We're just hoping that's going to create more conversations between candidates and their constituents."

Kinzel added a tenet of her Mormon faith includes the respect and dignity of each individual.

"Open primaries really plays into that by trying to ensure that all people hear and are heard, particularly in our governmental processes," Kinzel explained. "It really does come back to a matter of faith for us."


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Montana constitutional experts say the state Supreme Court did the right thing by providing lawmakers a chance to override the governor's veto of a popular marijuana sales-tax bill.

Senate Bill 442 passed the Legislature with near unanimous support, but Gov. Greg Gianforte vetoed it minutes after the Senate adjourned, leaving lawmakers no chance to override the veto.

After a series of court challenges, the state Supreme Court confirmed lawmakers should be able to take an override vote by mail. Critics called it "judicial overreach."

Rylee Sommers-Flanagan, executive director of Helena-based Upper 7 Law, said the court did what it was supposed to do, despite Gianforte's efforts to sidestep the override ballot.

"Only as a result of the court order did the state comply with its constitutional obligation to ensure that legislators, at the end of the day, have the say in what laws are passed," Sommers-Flanagan asserted.

The bill would have used marijuana sales-tax revenue for veterans programs, social services and county road maintenance. In his veto note, Gianforte called it a "slippery slope," which could set a precedent for spending state dollars on local infrastructure projects.

Sommers-Flanagan noted her law firm did not take a position on the measure but represented Wild Montana and the Montana Wildlife Federation, which supported the measure and the legal action to require the mail-in override ballot.

"It was wildly popular. That's just factual," Sommers-Flanagan emphasized. "The governor and Secretary of State failed to comply with their constitutional duties to ensure that lawmakers had the final say. And then, the court told them they had to allow that to happen. They did so, and the Legislature decided they didn't want to override the veto."

She called the attacks on the court for requiring the vote "disappointing," and an attempt to avoid talking about the content of the bill.

The measure had support from hunters, outdoor enthusiasts, veterans and county governments. But critics argued the formula for distributing road maintenance money was unfair.


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