Democratic New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch vetoed a voter identification law on Monday night because he said it “creates a real risk that New Hampshire voters will be denied their right to vote.”
“Voter turnout in New Hampshire is among the highest in the nation, election after election. There is no voter fraud problem in New Hampshire. We already have strong elections laws that are effective in regulating our elections,” Lynch said, Reuters reports.
But state lawmakers might still have the numbers to override Lynch’s veto, as they have done with several recent pieces of legislation. The House passed the bill with a veto-proof majority, but the Senate fell short of the two-thirds required to overcome a veto, with a vote of 14-9, according to the Union Leader.
Bill supporter John Barnes, Jr. said his phone rang “off the hook” with voters supporting the measure.
Voter ID bills have swept through several other Republican-controlled state legislatures this year, including in North Carolina, where the Democratic governor also vetoed a similar measure.
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