by Ed Naile
After decades of accepting non-citizens votes as equal to a qualified citizen’s vote, the New Hampshire State Supreme Court has acknowledged in its recent opinion that one must be domiciled in New Hampshire to vote here. This means that being domiciled in our state carries certain responsibilities – the same responsibilities as that of any other citizen.
Get ready for the “poll tax” debate!
Proponents of non-resident voting will drag out a pathetic argument sure to stimulate the naive. Here is the argument:
Obtaining an NH driver’s license when declaring NH your voting domicile is the same as a poll tax.
OK, let’s take the poll tax debate head-on.
Poll tax: what you pay if you want to vote.
The “poll tax” was abolished by the 24th Amendment to the US Constitution. No state can implement a poll tax.
Driver’s license: what you get if you want to drive. Drivers license are issued by states to citizens of that state.
If you hear anyone claiming NH has instituted a poll tax to vote in our state because you must get a driver’s license to drive in New Hampshire you know that person is clinging to the last phony excuse for non-citizen voting.
Here is the problem with crying “poll tax” in a crowded dorm.
You don’t have to get a New Hampshire driver’s license if you declare this state your legal domicile for voting – but you can’t drive around forever in our state, your new home, with a license from another state.
When anyone moves to New Hampshire or turns 16 and wants to drive a vehicle on our highways they must get an NH driver’s license.
We don’t call that a poll tax.
It isn’t a poll tax.
There is no such thing as a poll tax in New Hampshire or any other state. If there was a poll tax in New Hampshire people paying it would have sued in Federal Court.
Federal Courts will not allow states to collect poll taxes.
Federal Courts will not allow unqualified, out-of-state voters to vote in New Hampshire either. That is why our domicile/resident scam has never gone to Federal Court either.