Alexis Simpson
Role at the time: New Hampshire House Democratic leader
Statement summary
Simpson says Republicans removed student IDs as an identification option without pointing to a single case of fraud.
“For over ten years, young Granite Staters have been able to use a student ID to prove their identity when casting their ballots. Without a single case of fraud to point to, Republicans took that option away.”
Zach Laird's original InDepthNH report, later distributed through AP, quotes the plaintiff's counsel, an HB 323 cosponsor and the House Democratic leader two days after the lawsuit was filed. Their claims about fraud, security and legality are attributed arguments.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The reference point is the state's categorical exclusion of student IDs from consideration under existing identity-verification safeguards, which Secretary of State David Scanlan's April 23 directive set out. Simpson says that "Without a single case of fraud to point to, Republicans took that option away", criticizing the removal of student IDs as a way to prove identity at the polls. The exclusion is the broadest form of that removal, so we labeled it Condemned. The closest competing label is Challenged the characterization, since Simpson disputes the fraud rationale; it loses because the statement criticizes the removal itself.