New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte signs bills requiring new for absentee voting

By

Ballotpedia staff

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte signs bills requiring new documentation to request and return absentee ballots
  2. Florida district court rules Miami election date change unconstitutional
  3. A look at election results from Aug. 5

New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte signs bills requiring new documentation for absentee voting

On Aug. 1, New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) signed Republican-sponsored bills expanding voter ID and proof of citizenship requirements for absentee voting. Both laws take effect on Sept. 30, 2025.

SB 287 requires voters requesting an absentee ballot to include a photocopy of a valid photo identification or a notarized signature with the absentee ballot application. Voters may also present photo identification at a town clerk’s office to request an absentee ballot. SB 218 requires voter registration applicants using the state’s absentee registration affidavit to provide a photocopy of a valid identification and documentation verifying the voter’s citizenship and residence.

Both bills passed the New Hampshire General Court largely along party lines. Two Democrats in the state’s House of Representatives voted for the bills, joining all Republicans who cast a recorded vote. New Hampshire has a Republican trifecta. Republicans hold a 219-177-1 majority with three vacancies in the state House and a 16-8 majority in the state Senate. Ayotte is a Republican.

Lawmakers who supported the new laws said that they would bring absentee voting requirements more in line with in-person requirements. State Rep. Ross Berry (R) said, “The laws for voting by absentee ballot should be as close to voting in person as possible, and SB 218 is a major step toward accomplishing that.” Opponents of the new laws said that they make voting more difficult and do not address real issues. State Rep. Connie Lane (D) said, “The burdens far outweigh the speculative harm brought forward to support it.” 

New Hampshire is now the third state to require voters to submit a photocopy of their identification with all absentee ballot applications made by mail, joining Alabama and Kentucky. Several other states require first-time voters requesting an absentee ballot to submit a photocopy of their ID. In Alabama, the requirement is stipulated by the secretary of state, who has the authority to set the form of the absentee ballot application under a state law passed in 2024. Alabama had a Republican trifecta and a Republican secretary of state when the provision was added. Kentucky had a divided government when its law was passed. 

New Hampshire is one of 14 states that require an excuse to vote absentee and one of 25 states that require voters to provide photo identification to vote at the polls. 

The new laws follow recent changes in New Hampshire requiring voters and voter registration applicants to take more steps to prove their identity before voting. Last year, Gov. Chris Sununu (R) signed HB 1569, requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote. That law took effect after the November general election. New Hampshire is one of seven states to pass such a law, although not all those laws are in effect. That bill also eliminated the use of affidavit ballots that permitted voters to attest to their citizenship and residency under penalty of perjury. If challenged, a voter who used an affidavit ballot was required to provide proof of citizenship and residency within seven days of voting to have their ballot counted.

Also on Aug. 1, Ayotte signed bipartisan-sponsored HB 67 requiring the secretary of state to provide all towns with accessible machines for voters with disabilities for local elections, and two other Republican-sponsored bills. HB 154  allows voters to request that their ballot be counted by hand. SB 221 requires certain voter list maintenance activities to occur annually instead of at least once every 10 years. 

As of June 2025, 36 states required voters to present identification to vote at the polls on Election Day, but many states provide for exceptions to these rules. Of these states, 25 required voters to present identification containing a photograph, with certain exceptions, and 11 states did not explicitly require photo identification. The remaining 14 states did not require voters to present identification to vote at the polls on Election Day.

Click here to read more about absentee voting and here to learn more about voter ID requirements in all 50 states. 

Florida district court rules Miami election date change unconstitutional

In our June 26 edition of the Daily Brew, we covered the Miami, Florida City Commission’s vote to move the city’s elections from even to odd years. Here’s an update on that story.

On July 31, the Florida Third District Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that declared the ordinance moving the election unconstitutional. 

Miami city commissioners voted 3-2 on June 26 to approve an ordinance that would have postponed the city’s elections scheduled for November 2025 to November 2026 and given the current mayor and city commissioners an extra year in office. 

In response, 2025 Miami mayoral candidate Emilio Gonzalez sued the city on June 30. Commissioner Joe Carollo, who voted against the legislation, joined the lawsuit.

In the appeals court decision, judges Kevin Emas, Monica Gordo, and Fleur Lobree wrote, “[T]he City may not enact an ordinance which effectively amends its Charter without submission of the issue to the will and vote of its constituents by referendum, as required by both the City and the Miami-Dade County Charters. Therefore, as the trial court properly declared, the Ordinance is unconstitutional.”

In response to the decision, Commissioner Damian Pardo, who sponsored the election date legislation, said, “We congratulate those who fought hard for their point of view and prevailed in the court today. We remain committed to increasing voter representation and decreasing electoral costs in the City of Miami and plan to introduce legislation to place moving the elections to even years on the ballot as soon as possible.” 

Miami is not the only major U.S. city to consider moving its elections from odd to even years. On July 21, the New York City Charter Revision Commission voted unanimously to put five charter amendments on the ballot for voters to decide on Nov. 4, including one that would change city elections for mayor, public advocate, comptroller, borough president, and city council members from odd to even-numbered years. Click here for Daily Brew coverage of that amendment.

Two other cities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, North Miami and Coral Gables, have moved their elections from odd to even years. In Dec. 2022, the North Miami Council voted to move the May 2023 election to November 2024. In May 2025, the Coral Gables City Commission voted to move their elections from April of odd years to November of even years. 

Following the appeals court ruling, Coral Gables Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson said she believes the decision also applies to Coral Gables. On July 31, Coral Gables Commissioner Melissa Castro said that she drafted legislation to restore the city’s April elections, a ballot question regarding the election schedule, and a resolution to rescind the commission’s earlier decision to support lawsuits against the state of Florida on the issue. Castro said she plans to introduce all three at the city’s August 26 commission meeting. 

Castro was one of two Coral Gables commissioners – along with Ariel Fernandez– who voted against the election date change. Mayor Vince Lago, Anderson, and Commissioner Richard Lara voted in favor.

Thirty-eight of the nation’s 100 most populous cities hold odd-year elections. Thirty-nine of the top 100 cities hold elections in even-numbered years, and 23 hold elections in both even and odd years. For example, Indianapolis, Indiana, holds general elections for mayor and city council in odd years, but holds elections for coroner, surveyor, treasurer, and superior court judges in even years. 

Ballotpedia provides in-depth coverage of America’s 100 largest cities based on official census data. Our coverage scope for local elections continues to grow, and you can use Ballotpedia’s sample ballot lookup tool to see what local elections we are covering in your area.

A look at election results from Aug. 5

Tuesday was election day in Detroit, Michigan, Seattle, Washington, and various other localities around the U.S.

Here’s a look at some of those results.

Detroit

Detroit held top-two primary elections for mayor and city council.

Mary Sheffield and Solomon Kinloch, both Democrats, defeated seven other candidates in the nonpartisan primary for mayor. As of 3:40 p.m. on Aug. 6, Sheffield had received the most votes with 50.8% to Kinloch’s 17.4%.

Sheffield, who would be the Black woman to be the mayor of Detroit, is currently president of the Detroit City Council. Kinloch is the pastor of the Triumph Church.

This is the first time Detroit will elect a new mayor since incumbent Mike Duggan was elected in 2013. Duggan is not running for a fourth term.

According to the Associated Press’ Corey Williams, “The continued growth of the city could be at stake since Duggan, who is running for Michigan’s governor in 2026 as an independent, has helmed Detroit as it exited the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history and surged back to respectability following decades of economic hardship. The former prosecutor and medical center chief has overseen a massive anti-blight campaign and pushed affordable housing developments across the city.”

There were also four contested primaries for city council. 

Detroit is also holding elections for city clerk, board of police commissioners, and community advisory council in 2025. Click here to learn more. 

Seattle

Seattle held top-two primary elections for mayor, city attorney, and city council. Here are the results as of 4:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 6

  • Mayor: Incumbent Bruce Harrell and Katie Wilson led seven other candidates in the nonpartisan primary. Wilson had received the most votes with 46.4% to Harrell’s 45%.
    • Harrell was elected in 2021, when he defeated M. Lorena González 58.6%-41.2%. The last incumbent Seattle mayor to win re-election was Greg Nickels in 2005.
  • City Attorney: Incumbent Ann Davison and Erika Evans led two other candidates in the primary election for city attorney. Evans had received the most votes with 51.3% to Davison’s 37.3%.
  • City Council:

According to KUOW’s Catharine Smith, Amy Radil, Scott Greenstone, and Katie Campbell, the initial results showed that “Seattle’s mayor, city attorney, and council president were all lagging behind, indicating a tough fight as they move on to the general election in November. When this trio of moderates was elected in 2021, they focused on addressing disorder in the forms of homeless encampments, criminal case backlogs and a shortage of Seattle police officers. Now, each will likely face a runoff with a challenger who represents a potential progressive backlash to the last several years of centrist city policy.”

These elections also shared the ballot with Proposition 1, which would replace an expiring levy to fund the city’s public campaign finance program. As of 4:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 5, the vote was 55.6% Yes to 44.4% No. Click here to see our Daily Brew coverage of this measure.

Click here to learn more about Seattle’s 2025 elections. 

Ballotpedia covered elections in seven states on Aug. 5. Among these were elections for state and local offices in Arizona, Delaware, Kansas, Mississippi, and Rhode Island. Click here to see a list of all the elections we covered.

Editor’s note: This post has been updated to clarify that the photocopy identification requirement applies to voter registration applicants using the state’s absentee registration affidavit in New Hampshire. It also removes a second paragraph that incorrectly described New Hampshire’s absentee ballot photocopy requirements.