New Hampshire was crowned the most difficult state to vote in in 2022 and it’s only gotten more difficult since.
The state doesn’t offer early voting, and absentee voting is limited to people who meet certain requirements. Absentee ballots must also be returned by mail or in person, and new rules have added a witness requirement.
Also, students can no longer use student IDs as identification to vote.
This week, we asked readers: Should New Hampshire make voting easier—or are the current rules fine?
Here’s what they had to say…
“I lived on the road for 15 years, working all over the country, and at times, the world. I was very often dependent on being able to use an absentee ballot to vote. I am not sure what percentage of workers are on the road but I would say they also will be disenfranchised from voting. I am sure in some communities these voters make up a significant difference in the numbers able to vote. I think Trump’s plan is stupid. There is no proof of fraud in absentee voting. Trump is focusing his efforts in restricting absentee voting to blue states. My father was a postman for all of his working life. He would be angry at the USPS being TOLD how and what to deliver the mail. They even deliver junk mail, which some see as a waste of resources.” — Dan Roy
“No, we should not make voting easier. What New Hampshire should do is to make sure that ‘everyone’ who votes in NH is a resident in NH and is eligible to vote in this state. If New Hampshire public schools spent time teaching history to their students, and especially the history of John Stark, and what he did in the Battle of Bunker Hill, New Hampshire would have a more informed electorate—and how great that would be for all of us!” — Joan Shaughnessey
“Last I voted, I was required to show ID. Last I needed to get an ID, I had to prove who I was. Isn’t this enough? Isn’t this the law nation-wide? Wouldn’t it be much more feasible and enlightening to teach those who seem terrified of ‘illegals’ stealing their vote to just read a book or a newspaper and see that it’s really not within the best interests of someone who is trying to keep under the radar to draw attention to themselves?” — Mike Gravel
“Oh my god, YES! make it easier. Voting should be ranked choice. Voting should take place over the course of several days, or weeks, to make it easy for everyone to vote. Restricting voting to Tuesdays between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. is intentional (in my opinion) to make it ONLY easy for people who have flexible jobs or no job constraints at all.” — Leah Woods
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. ‘Nuff said.” — JoAnn Carlson
“Yes, and voters can start to make voting easier in NH this November! The most recently passed anti-voting bill was HB 323, which eliminated the use of student IDs for voting, despite there being no documented cases of student ID voting fraud. The bill will probably prevent thousands from voting in the midterms given that there are more than 200,000 students in NH. Online testimony was 811-67 against the bill. This bill is nakedly partisan and anti-democratic against students and all those who share their knowledge and opinions. The bill was signed by Gov. Ayotte in April 2026 after it passed in the Statehouse on a near party-line vote (Republicans 201-0 for, Democrats 148-5 against). Confirm your registration at vote.org and vote as if your vote depends on it, because it does!” — Bill Black
“As a lifelong resident of New Hampshire and one who has voted in every election I find that the current process is as complicated as necessary. A valid photo identification with simple proof of residency should be all that matters. We are living with the aftermath of our president’s mistaken belief that somehow he was cheated out of reelection in 2020. That and his natural fear of the electorate turning against him. He is his own worst enemy in that regard. And frankly, our country shouldn’t suffer because of his paranoia. Other politicians have suffered that same fate of losing an election and chose to accept the results and move on. Richard Nixon most famously came back from defeat in 1960 to win in 1968 but allowed his paranoia to cloud his judgement in 1972 even though the polls showed he had a huge lead.But even then he took the honorable way out by resigning. We should not let Trump color our faith in our democracy and in the election process. Whatever problems that may have occurred can be resolved without compromising the integrity of our democracy.I would rather risk a mistake at the ballot box than disenfranchise anyone who has the legal right to vote. That’s what our forefathers fought for and our brave military service members risk their lives to protect. So go vote! Democracy is not a spectator sport!” — Phil Hammond
“Requiring voters to appear in person to register to vote should be an easier process. I suggest that in cities and big towns Checklist Supervisors could advertise and visit locations in their district so that folks could sign up w/o having to travel far and find (and pay) for parking. I’m thinking schools grounds might a good location or community centers.” — Fran Taylor, Concord
“Your question implies that voting in New Hampshire is difficult. I reviewed the requirements for registering and voting in our state, and I can see no appreciable obstacles to registering or voting in NH.” — Richard P. Noonan
“My question is, who is responsible for these restrictions to voting in NH? Being an independent I can only envision it to be the GOP as they don’t want anyone to vote and hamper their success at the polls! Just a thought.” — Mike Blackledge, Charlestown
“I am not super familiar with all the rules/laws around voting in NH, other than the obvious: must be US citizen, age 18 in order to vote, registering first. But I think registering to vote should be completed automatically once someone receives a driver’s license; same day voting registration should continue; there should be easier access to photo ID for those w/o driver’s licenses; high school and college IDs should be accepted as proof of identification since, by default, the person would not even have that ID if the college of high school did not already have proof of citizenship, or not, legal residence, age, etc. Generally speaking, voting is a RIGHT and should be made as available and accessible with as few ‘barriers’ as possible to anyone who will be age 18 by election day.” — Lynn McRae
“Rank Choice voting and early voting should be part of any normal voting system. NH is getting harder and harder to live in.” — Nancy Fiske, Fremont
