For reasons highly suspect to anyone paying close attention, Republicans in the current New Hampshire Legislature have devoted much time and effort over the last year and a half to enacting more restrictive voting laws. They finally succeeded on June 27, as the state House of Representatives and Senate muscled through two election reform laws that had been vetoed by Gov. John Lynch.

With its Republican super-majorities, the legislature overrode Lynch’s veto of Senate Bill 289, requiring voters to show photo ID at the polls or sign a qualified voter affidavit. Under the new law, only a few forms of identification are accepted, including a diver’s license, non-driver ID card, armed services card, or passport. 

In his veto message, Lynch warned the law would make it difficult for some eligible voters to cast ballots. He said requiring voters without a valid ID to execute an affidavit is inappropriate, could cause confusion and will slow the voting process. He successfully vetoed a similar ID bill in 2011, but Republicans came right back in the spring and gave it another shot, and this time they prevailed.

They also overrode Lynch’s veto of SB 318, which requires people registering to vote to sign a statement recognizing they are subject to state laws, “including the laws requiring a driver to register a motor vehicle and apply for a New Hampshire driver’s license within 60 days of becoming a resident.”

Since people are not required to have a driver’s license or own a motor vehicle to vote, Lynch worried linking voter registration to these entirely unrelated laws would only result in confusion and disenfranchisement.

Republicans insist both bills are purely aimed at ensuring clean elections in which only eligible residents cast ballots—especially important as November’s presidential election approaches. Some have even suggested that failing to pass tougher voting laws could jeopardize New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary status.

That latter argument is absurd. And, despite the illegal stunt James O’Keefe’s outside muckraking group Project Veritas pulled here in January—obtaining ballots under the names of recently deceased citizens to make a bogus political point—voter fraud has never been a problem in New Hampshire. That being the case, it’s worth asking why Republicans have made the issue such a high priority these last two years. It’s not as if there’s a shortage of real problems to tackle.

Republicans are generally very clear about their message. They promote personal freedom, they uphold the Constitution, and they oppose government intrusion into people’s lives. How does requiring people to carry a government-issued identification card in order to exercise their most basic constitutional right fit in with that set of ideals? Why would it be so important to Republicans that they pushed hard for this unnecessary, prejudicial, partisan legislation two years in a row?

The only plausible answer is that Republicans are actively trying to reduce voter participation among certain demographics that are unlikely to support them, like college students. That’s not a conspiracy theory; that’s just logical deduction.

Since there is no problem with voter fraud, no positive consequence can come out of these bills.

But there is the very real negative consequence—intended or otherwise—of discouraging some eligible voters from participating in the democratic process. That is an injustice citizens should not tolerate. At a time when voter turnout is already alarmingly low, we should be working to boost engagement, not drive it even lower.

Those who do have valid photo IDs should head to the polls in November and unseat the lawmakers who supported these unfair, unneeded, un-American bills.