HB514

It is easy for you to be against this bill as I am sure most of you are already protected against deadly childhood diseases - because your parents got you vaccinated. Please oppose this bill - leave it up to families if they don’t want to vaccinate - but don’t take the choice/right to be vaccinated from those who wish to be. Thank you.

Allowing private persons to sue over elections welcomes pandemonium into the process. Not needed!

This bill allows for private parties to sue the state for violations of election laws. The Secretary of State has well defined policies and procedures to deal with election violations. If private parties could sue the state for violations of election laws. the door might be opened to the intimidation of election workers.

HB514, I cannot be support this bill. The details of the bill have a person being synonymous with as stated in the bill: "Person" means any individual, partnership, association, corporation or political subdivision. No to HB514. The is as though supporting Citizens United which includes suspicious and misleading political donations.

My opposition was sent via email to the Members of the House Education Policy and Administration Committee.

This bill, in particular allowing an individual, etc. to sue the State AND election officials for a perceived fraud in any matter related to the conduct of elections, is a direct attack on the integrity of the current system, and should be opposed. This could foment distrust and conspiracy theory-style actions against sworn election officials, doing their best to uphold the laws and conduct free and fair elections on behalf of the citizens of New Hampshire. As a Moderator, I testify that not only do I (and my fellow Moderators) take elections and our duties very seriously; we work many (often completely unpaid) hours studying election laws, preparing for each election (5 in some years), working all day on election day to keep the peace and enable free and fair elections for all eligible voters, and well into the night to ensure that the votes were counted accurately. Why would you Reps want to threaten a process that works? Where do you get your "information" about all of the violations that allegedly occur in the election process? Why would you want to discourage honest, independent election officials from serving? Please try to do your jobs responsibly, without following an outside (national?) agenda of chaos. New Hampshire doesn't need this kind of irresponsible governing.

This bill, the way it is written, seems to create more hurdles and nuisance suits against the state when individuals feel they haven't prevailed. If the DOJ doesn't seem the issue warrants a court case, more than likely, the issue doesn't. I feel like it will more likely clog the system rather than improving it by opening the door to everyone suing every time they don't get their way.

Chair Berry and Members of the Committee, I write to express strong opposition to HB514. The Supervisors of the Checklist in Derry rely on Assistant Supervisors who volunteer to register qualified citizens to vote on election days. In presidential elections, more than 2,300 Derry residents register at the polls. The Supervisors staff 30 registration stations for 14 hours with civic-minded volunteers. More than 50 pollworkers on registration alone made us successful. It is increasing difficult for us to retain experienced Assistant Supervisors due to the hostility and harrassment of election workers from candidates and the public; the increasingly complicated registration process; and the expectation in future elections that we'll turn away distressed and disgruntled individuals who are qualified but lack a document. HB514 exposes pollworkers to new legal liability. It will decimate our pool of experienced Assistant Supervisors, the backbone of our efficent and smooth registration process, and severely impact our ability to recruit new Assistant Supervisors. Few people will be willing to take on liability that could wreak havoc on their personal lives, affect their ability to attend to work and other obligations, over many months as litigation plays out. The civically minded residents we rely on to conduct elections will be dissuaded from participating by HB415. I urge you to vote ITL on HB415. It will decimate the ranks of experienced pollworkers and exacerbate our difficulty recruiting, training, and supervising new pollworkers. Sincerely, Judy Strakalaitis Supervisors of the Checklist Derry

This could enable one person to bog things down. I am not sure this law is necessary,

This law could lead to a plethora of bogus suits, requiring the attention the NH Attorney General. This would distract from the prosecution of serious crimes.

The Secretary of State has well defined policies and procedures to deal with election violations. This bill could open the door to intimidation of election workers.

Upon what basis would a private individual have the data for doubting the veracity of votes. I work the polls every election and I have never seen any attempt to subvert the vote. This is just an attempt to sow more doubt on our elections. Elections that have been free and fair without exception. This bill would only cause more chaos and confusion and sow doubt about our electoral system. THAT SEEMS TO BE YOUR INTENT IF YOU VOTE FOR THIS BILL.

I think the policies already in place work well. The features of this bill might lead to intimidation f of election workers.

ABSOLUTELY NO! This is a very dangerous bill opening up the possibility of spurious lawsuits.

This bill would allow for private parties to sue the State for perceived violations of election laws. It is my understanding that an infinitely small number of voting irregularities occur and that there are already procedures in place to deal with complaints. Opening the door to judicial intervention could also lead to intimidation of poll workers. There is no reason to introduce this opportunity for chaos and intimidation.

This bill allows for private parties to sue the state for violations of RSA 659, Persons harmed by violations of RSA 659 shall be entitled to seek injunctive relief through a formal complaint with the New Hampshire Department of Justice or the superior courts including claims representing a class. The bar for filing a suit is low, as is the general understanding of election law in the population, leading to the potential for a cornucopia of ill-founded suits, all requiring attention and resolution by the NH DoJ and Courts. That sounds good but it could lead to a lower, but inaccurate, perception of election integrity. Granite State Taxpayers recommends a vote AGAINST HB514 Ray Chadwick, Board Member

Vote ITL please, this is a solution looking for a problem.

There is no good reason to allow private citizens to sue over election laws, and it would set a dangerous precedent. It's a slippery slope from there to the kind of bounty hunter laws we see in the south. Let's be better than that.

Private persons have the ability to sue will only serve to further diminish the quality of our elections and further dissuade volunteers from participating. Additionally, this will result in a waste of taxpayer resources to defend and litigate these cases.

People should not be allowed to sue for violations of election laws

This is a dangerous bill.

This bill would only serve to increase harassment of poll workers.

HB 514 would put unreasonable pressure on election/poll workers.

I read HB514 and urge the committee to OPPOSE it because: (1) It serves no valid public purpose; (2) It empowers private partisan groups to disrupt elections instead of leaving the process to properly trained and vetted professionals; (3) It was not among the recommendations of NH's December 2022 Report of the Special Committee on Voter Confidence.

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