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Final results: Summary results | Town resultsThe BasicsThe New Hampshire primary is a mainstay in American electoral politics. Every four years, voters gather to help determine the Republican and/or Democratic nominee for President. While the state only has 12 electoral votes in 2012 (normally it’s 24, but the Republican National Committee penalized the state party for moving up the event date), the primary’s position as one of the earliest contests gives the state out-sized influence over the nomination process.Only the Iowa caucuses come before New Hampshire’s primary. Traditionally, New Hampshire’s broad-based primary contest has been seen as a counter-weight to Iowa’s more drawn-out caucus process, which tends to draw a smaller core of party faithful. In the case of the 2012 Republican race, New Hampshire’s electorate is seen to represent the more libertarian-leaning, fiscally conservative wing of the party, while Iowa voters are seen as representing the socially conservative wing of the GOP base.N.H. Primary summary provided by StateImpact - NH reporter, Amanda Loder

Judge Sets Friday Deadline For Voter Registration Agreement

Daniel Parks
/
Flickr Creative Commons

New Hampshire’s League of Women Voters could reach an agreement with the state soon on a controversial addition to voter registration forms.  This following Wednesday’s hearing in Strafford County Superior Court. 

The Strafford County judge has set noon, Friday, as deadline for an agreement.  The New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union, representing the League of Women Voters and four college students—recently filed suit against the state.

The issue is New Hampshire’s residency law, which covers most people.  But there are some people—like military personnel and out-of-state college students—who live here most of the time, but probably won’t be settling down.  Under this so-called “domicile” law, these people can vote, but they don’t need to register their cars in New Hampshire or get a state driver’s license.

Except one sentence on new voter registration forms seems to say they do.

And that’s what spurred the lawsuit.  The state’s League of Women voters contends this confusion could keep students away from the polls.

League Election Law Specialist Joan Flood Ashwell was at Wednesday’s hearing.  She says while the Attorney General didn’t agree that the language was confusing, he did agree that students don’t have to get a New Hampshire Driver’s License to vote.  Ideally, she says, the League would like for all the old registration forms to be recalled.  But that’s a sticking point for the state.

Ashwell says both sides seemed close to an agreement by the end of the hearing.

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