Nathaniel Furey

Absentee voting is a secure, reliable way for voters who cannot make it to the polls on election day to ensure their vote is counted and they are able to participate in our democratic process. There is no evidence of any wrongdoing around absentee ballots or any cases of individuals wrongfully submitting absentee ballots, and there are important fail-safes in our process to ensure this is a secure and reliable process. Adding a requirement for ballots to be notarized only serves as a burden on voters. Under this legislation, voters who are casting absentee ballots would have to take an additional step to get those ballots notarized – a process that can cost money and require travel and additional steps. Requiring ballots be notarized or signed by another authorized official will most directly impact voters with disabilities and seniors who may already be voting absentee because they aren’t able to easily travel to vote in person. In this case especially, finding and arranging a notary is a significant burden that may result in voters not being able to exercise their right to vote. This is essentially a voting TAX that is antithetical to live free or die. To ask people to pay to vote is the stuff of monarchies, not New Hampshire.