Point of View
Watch this page for local commentary on issues that matter for our town. We welcome input (300 words max) from local Democrats. Email submissions to [email protected]
SCRAP HOUSE BILL 1569Letter to the Editor from Bob Perry published in the Concord Monitor on 5/12/24:
Trump reiterates he will not accept the results of the November election unless he wins. When president, he states he will rewrite the U.S. Constitution to his liking; punish his long list of domestic enemies; reward insurrectionists with pardons; is “fine” with states monitoring pregnant women; punish women who receive an abortion; proud of packing the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) to repeal family privacy; holds in high regard the world’s tyrants. SCOTUS Thomas warned at repeal of Roe the court should consider repealing other rights, including same-sex marriage; and reinstating provision(s) in the 1873 Comstock Act prohibiting access to contraceptives. The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, in collaboration with over 100 partner organizations to assist the next Republican president, promotes dismantling the FBI; Dept. of Homeland Security; gutting environmental regulations in favor of drill-baby-drill; eliminating the departments of education and commerce; rejecting abortion as health care; immediately militarizing domestic law enforcement; invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act to punish the president’s adversaries. More. Many Americans rejoice at these proposals; many do not. Therefore, I expect a record number will vote. A challenge for some will be NH house bill 1569, which would repeal voting rights as voters have come to know them since 1993, and it does not even require the state to tell you about them. This is a dangerous time to debate a bill of such sweeping magnitude. It needs to die certain death now to avoid surprises, upset and disenfranchisement in November. - Bob Perry, Strafford UPDATE (as of 5/28/24):
Vote NO on Article #33 - Hand Counting VotesHereBob Perry urged us to vote NO on Article #33 at the 2024 Strafford Town Meeting. This article was intended to get rid of vote-counting machines and go back to hand-counting of election results). Thankfully, the move was tabled. In case it comes up again, here's what you need to know:
The measure would have prohibited the use of any current or future ballot-counting device. Equipment currently in use across the state is the AccuVote 2000, which will be phased out after the 2024 elections. The NH Ballot Law Commission has approved the use of two new scanners to replace the aging AccuVote. The move in Strafford was one urged by multiple conservative organizations in 22 NH towns to prohibit the use of "voting machines" and authorize only hand-counted ballots. These groups have connections to election-denier "Pillow Guy" Mike Lindell, who has been sued by both Dominion Voting Machines and Smartmatic Voting Machines in an amount in excess of $1.3B, claiming defamation. These right-wing organizations claim hand-counting is more accurate than machine counts, but 2012 NH and 2018 Wisconsin studies concluded otherwise. These organizations also claim the machines are hackable. Security upgrades to the Accuvote 2000 were recommended after 16 meetings over the course of a year by a committee on which Bob Perry served, and implemented by the state in time for the 2010 election. Secretary of State Scanlan and Gov. Sununu have repeatedly stood by the integrity, transparency and accuracy of our elections. The many hand-counts conducted in close elections following candidates' requests for recounts is a check on the machine counts; in addition, state law requires random audits of certain races. Hand-counting will lead to long hours of hand-counting, extra costs, difficulty in recruiting volunteers to work into the night, will place a greater burden on our town clerk and staff, and are not as accurate as machine counts. All of this in service to the far right's ongoing conspiracy theories, which decreases confidence in our elections, the keystone of Democracy. Here's the takeaway: If it comes up again, we need to oppose efforts to prohibit voting machines. Note: The Town of Strafford's voting machines need to be replaced after the 2024 elections, so we are likely to hear more about this in the coming year. |
A Priority for Voting Rights Advocates
Bob Perry reports that the bill referenced in the following testimony, HB 1569, repeals a number of existing statutes, repeals and reenacts a number of others, and amends a number of statutes, which, in effect, repeal years of progress made towards expanding, and making more convenient, the act of voting. The bill was introduced by Robert Lynn (R-Rockingham 17), and has no co-sponsors. It has become a priority bill to oppose among a number of voting rights advocacy organizations in New Hampshire.
Note: HB 1569 – relative to eliminating voter identification exceptions
Dear Representatives Harrington, Turcotte, Howard,
As legislators, you are aware of our current political climate. It is rife with threats to repeal hard-fought human rights. In America. Land of the free. Promises of a national abortion ban - forced birth, survival of the mother based on a bureaucratic or committee ruling; The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, a scheme to dismantle the administrative state by eliminating or reprioritizing government functions; A warning of the return of the Comstock Act - access to contraception on the line; Dictator on Day One; Four years of retribution; Suspending the Constitution; America a Third World Country. More. All public information you have heard with your own ears.
You are also aware that our secretary of state and governor assert our elections are safe and secure, free of fraud that would change election results. HB 1569, therefore, is unnecessary, baseless, serves no purpose, except will make voting more difficult and evoke less confidence in our most basic right, the right that makes all else possible.
Ordinarily, I would "urge" you to vote against HB 1569. However, leadership and defense of acquired human rights requires you to vote against it.
Bob Perry, Strafford
HB 1569 – relative to eliminating voter identification exceptions
Public Hearing 2.20.24
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee,
I speak in opposition. This bill repeals decades of progress towards rectifying 234 years of denying certain classes of Americans a voice in our experiment in self-governance. From the beginning, there were restrictions on who could vote, and the value of the vote. For example, gerrymandering has existed early on. In that regard, I often think about the flight of the Kitty Hawk, and how it only took five minutes for some bright individual to act on the idea of installing a machine gun on it to gain serious advantage over others. Since the beginning, it has been students of good government, in and out of government, who have delivered expanded rights and opportunities.
Artificial intelligence has already been used to recreate music from deceased persons, to give adult voice to toddlers, to mock, and has been deployed in the Granite State to suppress the vote. It will be used by independent political organizations, competing for the most effective AI ads for their candidates. It will be used to subvert Democracy. It will be used indefinitely for all purposes.
Another serious issue is us. We are using the tools of Democracy to subvert Democracy.
To start, we must unite in this body to maintain confidence in our elections. We must continue to expand access to the ballot box, to make it convenient to vote, to hold voting in high esteem against those who would take it from us. This bill represents a taking – a taking of hard-fought voting rights already acquired. In a world of rising autocracy, we must rise united in support of expanded rights.
I urge ITL.
Bob Perry, Strafford
Note: HB 1569 – relative to eliminating voter identification exceptions
Dear Representatives Harrington, Turcotte, Howard,
As legislators, you are aware of our current political climate. It is rife with threats to repeal hard-fought human rights. In America. Land of the free. Promises of a national abortion ban - forced birth, survival of the mother based on a bureaucratic or committee ruling; The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, a scheme to dismantle the administrative state by eliminating or reprioritizing government functions; A warning of the return of the Comstock Act - access to contraception on the line; Dictator on Day One; Four years of retribution; Suspending the Constitution; America a Third World Country. More. All public information you have heard with your own ears.
You are also aware that our secretary of state and governor assert our elections are safe and secure, free of fraud that would change election results. HB 1569, therefore, is unnecessary, baseless, serves no purpose, except will make voting more difficult and evoke less confidence in our most basic right, the right that makes all else possible.
Ordinarily, I would "urge" you to vote against HB 1569. However, leadership and defense of acquired human rights requires you to vote against it.
Bob Perry, Strafford
HB 1569 – relative to eliminating voter identification exceptions
Public Hearing 2.20.24
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee,
I speak in opposition. This bill repeals decades of progress towards rectifying 234 years of denying certain classes of Americans a voice in our experiment in self-governance. From the beginning, there were restrictions on who could vote, and the value of the vote. For example, gerrymandering has existed early on. In that regard, I often think about the flight of the Kitty Hawk, and how it only took five minutes for some bright individual to act on the idea of installing a machine gun on it to gain serious advantage over others. Since the beginning, it has been students of good government, in and out of government, who have delivered expanded rights and opportunities.
Artificial intelligence has already been used to recreate music from deceased persons, to give adult voice to toddlers, to mock, and has been deployed in the Granite State to suppress the vote. It will be used by independent political organizations, competing for the most effective AI ads for their candidates. It will be used to subvert Democracy. It will be used indefinitely for all purposes.
Another serious issue is us. We are using the tools of Democracy to subvert Democracy.
To start, we must unite in this body to maintain confidence in our elections. We must continue to expand access to the ballot box, to make it convenient to vote, to hold voting in high esteem against those who would take it from us. This bill represents a taking – a taking of hard-fought voting rights already acquired. In a world of rising autocracy, we must rise united in support of expanded rights.
I urge ITL.
Bob Perry, Strafford
Education at Risk in Strafford
Education in New Hampshire is facing steep challenges. This year alone, $20 million was siphoned off from public education statewide to fund "Education Freedom Accounts" used to send kids to private and religious schools. The Concord Monitor shed some light on this in a recent article "Local Property Taxpayers Bear Brunt of Education Funding".
Contributor Bob Perry is a former State Representative who chaired the Strafford Town Democrats for more than 16 years. He is a longtime board member of Open Democracy New Hampshire, and a darn good blueberry picker.
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Take a virtual guided tour of the New Hampshire State House with Virginia Drew, Director of the State House Visitor Center.
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