Voters in New Hampshire face the highest personal cost in the country in terms of the time and effort required to cast a ballot, according to a new academic study. NH is ranked 50.
The study ranks all 50 states based on the overall investment a resident must make, in time and resources, to vote.
Researchers focused on 10 categories related to voting, including registration, inconvenience, early voting, polling hours and absentee voting.
The two categories given the most weight, according to Scot Schraufnagel, a political scientist at Northern Illinois University and an author of the study, were ease of registration to vote and the availability of early voting, both in person and by mail.
The study draws a distinction between early voting and in-person absentee voting.
NH is one of only four states, along with Alaska, Connecticut and Mississippi, that allow voting only on Election Day, although those who can’t vote on the day may vote by absentee ballot.
18 states, including New Hampshire, allow residents to register to vote and cast a ballot on the same day.
Read more:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/09/20/us/politics/cost-of-voting.html?searchResultPosition=3
Actual study:
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/elj.2022.0041