Andrew Harmon

To the honorable election law committee: My name is Andrew Harmon, and I am a legally blind citizen who lives in New Hampton, NH. I am asking you to please oppose HB 686-FN, requiring a voter to provide identification when requesting an absentee ballot. As someone who already experiences barriers interfering with my ability to cast my ballot as my right and responsibility as a U.S. citizen, having to comply with additional steps to be able to gain access to a ballot is troubling in the extreme. I nearly had my absentee ballot rejected in 2022, as the form provided to me by the secretary of state’s office which was supposed to work with my screen reader was not coded properly and I nearly filled out the incorrect spaces on the form as a result. If I had taken this form to be notarized, I would have had the form rejected, and would have had to start the process over again. This would have resulted in my inability to participate in that election. Requiring a color copy as well as a notary for everyone involved in the process of filling out currently inaccessible forms adds more steps to a process that is already time-consuming and duplicative as systems already exist to verify if people who request ballots are indeed legal residents domiciled within the towns they live within. If I ever tried to somehow request additional ballots my town clerk would be able to immediately halt this and initiate the proper penalties against me under the current systems. Please oppose this unnecessary law which only helps to damage the ability of people with disabilities like myself to perform one of their most sacred responsibilities as a citizen of this great state. Sincerely Andrew Harmon