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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
Democrats got some bad news earlier this week in a potential swing state heading into the 2024 elections as they seek to control the manner in which Americans vote.
A state court in New Hampshire shot down Democrat-backed lawsuits challenging the state’s voter ID law, ruling that they did not have any standing.
Hillsborough Superior Court Justice Charles Temple wrote that the challenges filed against the law lacked standing because plaintiffs did not produce any evidence to show that their ability to cast a ballot was impeded by the requirement in question, according to The Federalist.
“In their original lawsuit against New Hampshire’s Republican secretary of state and attorney general, several state voters, along with 603 Forward and Open Democracy Action (two leftist organizations), claimed SB 418 violated provisions of the New Hampshire Constitution,” the outlet reported.
The Republican National Committee, New Hampshire Republican State Committee, and Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE) PAC were defendants in the case, said the outlet.
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The Federalist noted further:
Signed into law by GOP Gov. Chris Sununu last year, SB 418 altered the process by which voters verify their identity when casting their ballot. Under the law, voters who fail to present an approved form of ID would be instructed to fill out an “affidavit ballot,” at which point he or she must then fill out and submit a series of documents proving he or she is eligible to vote. If a voter does not return a copy of the required information within seven days of the election, that voter’s ballot will not be certified.
In his Wednesday ruling, Temple noted how plaintiffs were unable to document any evidence proving their rights were, “or will be,” violated by the law.
“In sum, it seems abundantly clear to the Court that the ‘rights’ at issue in this litigation are the constitutional rights of New Hampshire’s voters, which the organizational plaintiffs maintain have been (or will be) violated by SB 418,” wrote Temple.
“However, under long-standing case law, the organizational plaintiffs may only challenge the constitutionality of SB 418 based on an invasion of their own rights. … “Because of the things listed above, the plaintiffs have not shown that the defendants are claiming an adversely to a present legal or equitable right that belongs to them,” he said.
Additionally, Temple granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which sought to declare SB 418 unlawful. The leftist groups also wanted an injunction against enforcement of the law, The Federalist noted, but did not get one.
“Preferring an election honor system is not a sufficient reason to insert chaos into New Hampshire’s elections. The reason these dark-money-funded activists could not identify any rights affected by SB 418 is because every eligible voter who wants to vote in New Hampshire can vote easily,” RITE President Derek Lyons said in a statement after the ruling.
“Voter ID laws do not harm eligible voters. Instead, they identify those people ineligible to vote, including non-citizens. Every case rejecting activists’ attempts to upend state election law helps restore voters’ confidence in the ballot box,” he added.
The ruling could have a big impact during the 2024 election. That’s because former President Donald Trump has a slight lead over President Joe Biden among voters in crucial battleground states that will likely decide the election, and New Hampshire is trending to the right.
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Voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin were polled in October by Bloomberg/Morning Consult, and their results showed that Trump was ahead of Biden by four percentage points due to widespread disapproval of the vice president’s handling of the economy.
Trump has a 5-point lead over Biden in Georgia, a 4-point lead over Biden in Arizona, a 2-point lead in Wisconsin, a 1-point lead in Wisconsin, and a 1-point lead in Pennsylvania. According to the survey, Biden is ahead of Trump by three points in Nevada and the two candidates are neck and neck in Michigan.