New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) signed Republican-sponsored bills expanding voter ID and proof of citizenship requirements for absentee voting on Aug. 1, 2025. 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 in the legislature who cast a recorded vote.
Lawmakers who supported the new laws said that they would bring absentee voting requirements more in line with in-person requirements. 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. 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 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 into law, 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 of 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. Now, a voter must present valid documentation before voting or at the polling place.
Gov. Ayotte did not release a statement upon signing either bill. On the same day, she also 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—allowing voters to request that their ballot be counted by hand—and SB 221—requiring certain voter list maintenance activities to occur annually instead of at least once every 10 years.
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