As Dartmouth student groups and Hanover town officials begin voter registration drives for November’s midterm election, government professors and the Hanover town clerk expressed concerns that confusion around voter ID requirements — which proponents say prevent voter fraud — may leave students and other community members wondering what documents they need to vote.
On July 25, a New Hampshire superior court judge declared unconstitutional a 2012 state voter ID law that would have required out-of-state students to comply with the state’s residency laws, a promise that would have required them to obtain a New Hampshire driver’s license and register their car in-state.
There is still confusion over what voters need to bring to the polls in order to vote, Hanover town clerk Betsy McClain said. Town election supervisors will work closely with Dartmouth political groups to spread information and quell confusion, she said.
“We are going to do whatever we can to allow students to exercise their right to vote in New Hampshire,” she said.
New Hampshire voters are now asked for a photo identification before voting, a type of voter ID law.
If they do not have photo ID, they are asked to fill out a challenged voter affidavit, after which they can proceed to vote. That person should receive a letter from the New Hampshire Secretary of State asking to confirm that they voted. The law explicitly notes that a Dartmouth College ID is a valid form of ID at the polls.
In midterm elections, student turnout wanes and older voters tend to vote more reliably, McClain said.
Anecdotally, she said she noticed that it is not younger citizens who have troubles with voter ID requirements, but the older residents of Hanover. Those over 70, she said, often don’t have valid driver’s licenses, she said.
In the 2012 presidential election, Hanover voter turnout was 72.28 percent. During the most recent midterm election, held in 2010, turnout dipped to 38.8 percent.
While voter ID law advocates say they fight voter fraud, some studies have indicated that documented voter fraud is very rare in the U.S..
A “carefully orchestrated campaign” has raised concerns about voter fraud, government professor Brendan Nyhan, who studies political misinformation, said.
“The thing that makes this both interesting and depressing is how weak the relationship is between the evidence and not just public opinion but the policy process,” Nyhan said. “In thinking about the quality of the democratic process that produces these laws in the first place, it’s a problem when laws are being based on evidence that’s wrong.”
Government professor Kyle Dropp has collected and studied data on all changes in voter ID laws between 2002 and 2012, along with changes in voter turnout. Dropp has found that states that strengthened voter ID laws saw turnout reduced by about 2 percent and by around 3 percent in midterm elections, he said.
Turnout was driven down for students, those who do not have a permanent residence, as well as the poor, he said.
“The effect of these laws is making the electorate a little more favorable to the Republican Party,” Dropp said.
Dropp said it is too early to tell definitively what impact voter ID laws will have on Dartmouth students during this year’s midterm elections.
“I’d say that evidence I found suggests it might have a small effect on turnout,” Dropp said. “Everybody could show up and vote legally, but I think there likely will be some people are not sure if they have the right ID and are deterred as a result.”
College Republicans vice president Paul Ghazal ’17 said he does not expect voter ID laws would discourage student voting, since most Dartmouth students carry IDs, and believes the laws are helpful.
“I think it does more good than harm because it maintains a fair electoral system,” he said.
College Democrats president Spencer Blair ’17 said that since Dartmouth students have Dartmouth IDs, they should not be dissuaded from voting in the state.
“I think what drives student turnout down in New Hampshire is confusion about the laws whether students who are from out of state who attend college here are allowed to vote in the state,” Blair said.
Blair applauded Friday’s ruling, contending that the law’s tough wording would have disenfranchised students who live in the state six to 12 months of the year and are affected by New Hampshire law and policies.
Blair is a member of The Dartmouth opinion staff.
