A new voter ID law is facing its first legal challenge.

Gov. Chris Sununu signed the law last week. It requires all people registering to vote to show a passport, birth certificate or naturalization papers at the polls. Set to take effect after the November general elections, it would replace an existing system that allows people to swear they are qualified to vote by signing an affidavit, if they lack the required documents.

A new lawsuit from the New Hampshire Youth Movement, filed in federal court on Tuesday, alleges that the law violates the U.S. Constitution by making it “substantially harder—and in some cases impossible—for many New Hampshire citizens to register and vote.” They’re asking the court to permanently block the law from taking effect.

In addition to requiring all first-time voters to prove their citizenship with documentation in hand, the law also eliminates all exceptions for people who show up to vote without an identification.

The lawsuit alleges the policies will disproportionately impact younger voters and college students, “who are less likely to have ready access to the limited set of documents with which they must now prove their citizenship.” It also cites the state’s own data showing prosecutions for voter fraud, including non-citizens participating in elections, are exceedingly rare.

According to the lawsuit, more than 700 voters registered at their polling locations in 2022 using an affidavit to prove their citizenship in lieu of showing documentation, while hundreds more used affidavits to attest to their residency or identity.

The plaintiffs allege that since 2015, there has only been one prosecution for a non-citizen voting in New Hampshire.

Sununu’s office has not yet responded to a request for comment.

The lawsuit names New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan as the defendant. His office has also not yet responded to a request for comment.

In June, Scanlan told lawmakers that he didn’t think the proposal was “unreasonable.”

“I don’t think that it is voter suppression or too much to ask voters to be able to give that confidence that they’re qualified to vote,” Scanlan said during a legislative hearing.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Bob Lynn, a Republican from Windham who previously served as chief justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. He and other supporters said the new rules will boost confidence in New Hampshire elections and are a reasonable expansion of voting laws.

Authorities launched an investigation into the suspicious death of a man in New Hampshire early Tuesday morning.

New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella said investigators assigned to his office are responding to the scene of the man’s death in the Grafton County town of Littleton, which is located just north of Franconia off Interstate 93.

The name of the victim hasn’t been released and there was no word on an arrest in connection with the incident.

The exact circumstances surrounding this incident remain under active investigation, according to Formella.

Officers have since determined that there is no threat to the public.

Formella noted that additional information will be released when it becomes available.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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An 11-year-old boy in New Hampshire was freed after being trapped between two boulders near his school for nine hours.

Firefighters used rope, dish soap and friction-reducing sheets to gradually extract the boy from the crevasse between the boulders in Windsor, New Hampshire. They finally managed to slip him out at about 3:15 a.m. on Monday. They had originally arrived on the scene close to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Hillsborough Fire Chief Kenny Stafford said.

The boy was taken to the hospital for examination and was released the same day, according to Wediko School, a residential treatment center the boy attends.

“On Sunday evening, while under supervision, a student exploring a rocky area on campus slipped between two boulders when sticks and debris gave way beneath them,” the school said in a statement Monday.

“Despite multiple staff members’ efforts to free the student, they were unsuccessful and promptly called local emergency rescue services. Emergency responders worked tirelessly through the night, successfully rescuing the student in the early morning.”

Just about every available response team, including some from five other communities, came out to support the rescue, ranging from state police to the Fish and Game Department.

The Manchester Fire Department, which is about 40 minutes away from Hillsborough, was called in because rescuers specifically needed their heavy rescue truck and crew, Manchester Fire Battalion Chief Jon Fosher said.

Even with all hands on deck, first responders struggled for hours to find a safe way to free the boy. They couldn’t move the boulders and chipping away was too dangerous for the trapped boy. So, they resorted to digging their way to him.

“We basically had to tunnel underneath the boulder to get access to the child’s feet which allowed us something to push on from the bottom,” Fosher said.

Fosher chalked up the success to the teamwork between all crews and departments involved.

With Post Wires