John Sellers
Role at the time: Republican state representative and HB 323 cosponsor
Statement summary
Sellers says the change to stop accepting student IDs is meant to reduce possible fraud and to make sure voters are domiciled in New Hampshire.
“It’s a simple change to not allowing student IDs as valid identification cards, because there’s maybe a potential for voter fraud, and we’re trying to cut down on fraud.”
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, the rule in the April 23 directive that the district court blocked on October 2. Sellers, a cosponsor of HB 323, justifies "not allowing student IDs as valid identification cards" as a step against "a potential for voter fraud". When Sellers spoke in August, the directive applied the law as a complete bar on the cards, and the state later offered no separate justification for that bar beyond the law's own interests. We labeled it Defended or excused. Sellers does not address whether officials may consider the cards with other evidence. The closest competing label is Mixed or conditional, since Sellers hedges with "maybe"; it loses because the hedge qualifies the cited risk, not the support for the change.