If you have ever knocked down a political sign, removed it from the ground or caused any destruction of a political sign, apparently, the New Hampshire government will take away your voting rights. Or at least that is the precedent currently being set as a Northfield man was indicted on a class B misdemeanor count of unlawfully removing political signs. In which his voting rights were then terminated, unless the N.H. Supreme Court restores them, according to the N.H. Attorney General as quoted in reporting by Boston 25.
55-year-old Nick Moorhead entered a guilty plea in Franklin District Court. The court imposed a penalty of $310, which was split into a $250 fine and a $60 penalty assessment, according to the Attorney General.
Now, typically, you’d get your voting rights stripped as a felon, with potential for it to be restored if granted parole and such. But of course, when I looked at the U.S. Department of Justice website, it states, “A few states strip the right to vote from people convicted of some misdemeanors— especially ones connected with elections. But conviction for a misdemeanor usually does not affect voting rights— regardless of whether someone is incarcerated.”
But let’s be real here, do we seriously think that a random guy, taking Donald Trump signs and stomping on them, even giving the homeowner the finger, made a serious impact in the 2024 election? Considering it’s now Trump for an unfortunate second term, I’d say it had zero impact.
If Moorhead is only having to pay a fine and serve no jail time, it seems as though his distaste for Trump is what got his voting rights stripped. “Pursuant to Part I, Article 11 of the State Constitution, Mr. Moorhead’s right to vote in New Hampshire is terminated unless later restored by the New Hampshire Supreme Court,” according to the press release.
Upon further research, the election laws do not explicitly state what constitutes a violation of the election law. Even if the N.H. constitution includes something that backs up the court’s decision to take away Moorhead’s voting rights, the justification seems inherently biased towards President Trump. Especially with Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s support of the president.
In this day and age, we should be doing everything to encourage voters to get out and well you know, vote. It is my firm belief that voting should be required and all Americans should be voting. When people aren’t voting, their voices aren’t being heard and they aren’t electing officials who will advocate for them and help pass legislation that benefits them.
I recall a few years back, during Trump’s reelection campaign, Bow students being arrested for taking political signs. I mean, those were students, children even, who were arrested for showing their distaste for an authoritarian president.
With the current state of our democracy and how President Trump is handling things, we have plenty of bigger problems to worry about than a guy from Northfield, N.H., kicking Trump signs. People should be furious with our government, and a protest such as this one should not be a reason to take away someone’s right to vote. This only shows that the government wants to silence those who oppose the Trump Administration.
I think people need to be doing a lot more than kicking signs to get local government attention, because it’s their responsibility to represent the people of the Granite State. Now I am not inciting violence here, but be more politically active, go out to protests, write for your school newspaper, SPEAK UP! If we don’t, our country goes silent while people continue to lose jobs, go hungry, get deported or even die.
Madelyn Marabella can be contacted at
mmarabella@kscequinox.com
