As we approach Memorial Day, some of our citizens need to be reminded that this is a holiday unlike any others we recognize: not a celebration, but a day to remember and honor those who have died in American wars. “Decoration Day” – which is what Memorial Day was first called – began during the Civil War. New Hampshire sent 35,000 to fight for the Union in that War; no small sacrifice, as that was 11% of the state’s entire population. As every fourth grader who has visited the State House Hall of Flags knows, the brave men and women from New Hampshire who were lost in that and other wars are honored and remembered by the tattered flags they carried in battle.

Memorial Day is also a good time to be reminded that wartime is when voting for military members was first ensured, through absentee ballots. Absentee voting started in the War of 1812 and the Civil War to give service members the ability to exercise the right for which they were willing to sacrifice all. For the past two decades, our service members deployed to the Middle East and other theaters have been able to vote via absentee ballot. But a bill passed by this year’s Legislature – SB 418 – will make it more difficult for our servicemen and women deployed around the world to make their voices heard and vote, even as they protect our country.

As a military veteran and the grandfather of an active U.S. Navy service member from Weare, I want to urge the Governor to veto SB 418, which creates new complicated voting rules that will directly limit the opportunity for members of the military stationed overseas to cast their ballots. Here is why: The bill will make it nearly impossible for New Hampshire’s local election officials to mail ballots to active duty military voters for future general elections in line with federal requirements. It will needlessly complicate New Hampshire’s elections process and may delay certification of winners of New Hampshire primary elections starting in 2024 for weeks.

SB 418 is also likely to violate federal law that protects military voters. The Uniformed And Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), a federal law that determines processes for members of the military to cast their ballot, requires ballots to be mailed to military voters 45 days before a federal election. That means that local election officials are required to mail general election ballots to military members only a few days after, and possibly even before, primary election results are certified under SB 418. This creates an impossible task for local election officials and may ultimately restrict our armed service members from casting their ballots.

Supporters have claimed SB 418 will improve the sanctity of elections and improve voter confidence. But many veterans, town clerks, the ACLU and others testified in opposition, maintaining that this bill attempts to solve a problem that does not exist. Their testimony and that of the Secretary of State, David Scanlan, who suggested tabling SB 418 and asking the state Supreme Court for an opinion of its constitutionality, was not enough to put the brakes on this legislation. I hope Governor Sununu will take a more measured approach and veto the bill when it gets to his desk.

With just a few months before the next election, now is not the time to make our local election officials’ job more difficult, as they already face many unneeded threats and complications to run our elections. It is also not the time to limit opportunities for members of the military to participate in the democracy they are safeguarding. With more New Hampshire service members being deployed to NATO countries in Eastern Europe due to the war in Ukraine, we cannot make voting more difficult for them.

Gov. Sununu, please use your veto stamp and reject SB 418. Now more than ever, policymakers need to take a breath and take more time to develop a proposal that better balances accountability, transparency, and the interests of New Hampshire voters – especially our men and women in uniform.

Ed Friedrich of Loudon is a former First Lieutenant with the United States Marine Corps who served during the Vietnam War era.