New Hampshire House rejects Real ID: 268-8

The New Hampshire House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to reject the federal REAL ID Act as amounting to the creation of a national ID card.

The House voted 268-8 to send the bill to the Senate that would bar the state from complying with the federal act that sets standards for driver's licenses.

Gov. John Lynch has said he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk....

''It is probably the worst piece of blackmail to come out of the federal government. This is pure, unadulterated blackmail,'' said. Rep. Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry....

Earlier this year, Lynch reiterated his concerns that too many questions remained about the cost, privacy and turning motor vehicle workers into de facto agents of Homeland Security

See the full story -- and check out this the New Hampshire public radio story on this.

New Hampshire has been one of the hotbeds of opposition to Real ID. Check out the video of the Real ID protest and the Granite State ID site for more. Live free or die!

jon

And up in New Hampshire...

The Union Leader ran an editorial yesterday urging the NH State House and Senate to say "no" to Real ID. Of the various issues that make the Real ID Act troubling, they focused on privacy concerns:

This national database of personal information would be a hacker's mother lode. And if you think it would be safe in the federal government's hands, just remember those FBI laptops.

It will be interesting to see as the month progresses how many editorials appear, and what areas they focus on, whether for or against Real ID.