Andrew Harmon

To the honorable Election Law Committee: My name is Andrew Harmon, and I am writing to urge the committee to vote Inexpedient to Legislate on HB 365, relative to proof of United States citizenship for indigent voters. This bill would require the creation of a new level of work within the Secretary of State’s office, and does not provide any funds to support what would be requirements placed upon individual towns and cities to cover a voter’s efforts to comply with already existing law. It can be incredibly expensive to obtain documents, and it is also very time-consuming to obtain citizenship documentation. While vouchers would be provided by towns and clerks with the support of the Secretary of State’s office, no funds are provided to the Secretary of State and therefore would have to either be collected from the Help Americans Vote Act funds or be appropriated by an act of the House, which would ultimately fall upon tax payers as a new initiative that is not funded. I thank the committee for taking the time to read my testimony, and if you have any questions, I am happy to do so either by email at andrewjharmon@gmail.com, or by cell phone at 603-992-4053 at your convenience. Andrew Harmon, concerned citizen 138 Main Street New Hampton, NH 03256