Court Cases

In a “friend of the court” brief filed on February 13, 2026, we’re challenging the federal government’s attempt to access New Hampshire’s unredacted voter file—including information like voters’ driver’s license numbers and the last four digits of Social Security numbers. The brief was filed on behalf of the ACLU of New Hampshire and the League of Women Voter of New Hampshire. These groups are represented by lawyers from the Campaign Legal Center, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, the national ACLU, and the ACLU of New Hampshire. In early September 2025, New Hampshire's Secretary of State denied a request by the Trump administration to turn over sensitive voter information. This denial followed an exchange between the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office and the Trump administration beginning on June 25, 2025, when Trump administration officials sent requests for voter files to at least nine states (including New Hampshire), many of them considered swing states in upcoming elections. On September 25, 2025, the U.S. DOJ filed a lawsuit in federal court attempting to force the New Hampshire Secretary of State to share the unredacted voter file. This friend-of-the court brief supports the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s motion to dismiss the case. The brief explains that the Trump administration's lawsuit is part of a nationwide campaign to sweep up voter rolls, one of many tactics in the administration’s broader strategy to undermine free and fair elections. Indeed, as explained in this amicus brief, unredacted voter information includes sensitive details about New Hampshire voters, including birthdates, driver's license numbers, and social security numbers. Indeed, federal voting rights laws were designed to create free, fair, and secure elections, including the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), and the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (CRA). These federal laws were designed to expand and protect voting rights for all—including vulnerable communities that were once denied the right to vote and remain targets for voter suppression efforts—and ensure public confidence in our elections.  

On July 6, 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire and two legislators sued to bar New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner from illegally disclosing statewide information concerning New Hampshire voters.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire and the American Civil Liberties Union is suing New Hampshire for invalidating the absentee ballots of hundreds of voters, many of whom are disabled, without warning.

On October 31, 2014, the ACLU-NH filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of three New Hampshire voters—including one member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives—challenging RSA 659:35(I) on the grounds that it violates the right to free speech under the First Amendment.

The ACLU-NH filed a lawsuit challenging HB1542, a new state law passed that imposes onerous restrictions on third parties by compressing the time period to collect the number of signatures necessary to get on the ballot.