Representative Greg Hill did not respond.

Representative James Thibault did not respond.

Senator Howard Pearl did not respond.

On April 4, I emailed all three state legislators who represent Northfield. I asked them to go on the record about four bills — two already signed into law, two heading to Senate floor votes. I gave them until April 9.

On April 9, Pearl walked into the Senate chamber and voted yes on a citizenship verification bill that no one has shown is needed. Thibault — a 20-year-old Saint Anselm College student who campaigned on transparency and publicly lists his cell number — had already voted in January to strip college student IDs from the list of acceptable voter identification. He voted to make it harder for his own classmates to vote. He never wrote back.

Hill, who has represented Northfield since 2010 and lives a mile from the town center, voted for all of it. He didn’t write back either.

None of them acknowledged the email. None declined on the record. None said a word.

Their votes are public. What follows is the record they refused to defend.

James Thibault Voted Against His Own Classmates

Thibault is one of the youngest state legislators in America. He ran on being accessible. His campaign told voters to “call, text, DM, email.” He posts his cell number online.

On January 7, he voted YES on HB 323, the bill that eliminates student IDs as valid voter identification. Governor Ayotte signed it April 3. It takes effect June 2 — in time to affect every student voting in the September primary and the November general election.

Thibault attends Saint Anselm College. His classmates are legal New Hampshire residents. They have a constitutional right to vote. Under the law he voted for, the ID in their wallets — the same kind of ID in his wallet — no longer counts at the polls.

No one presented evidence of student-ID fraud in committee hearings. None. The bill passed 190–148 without it.

I asked Thibault directly: will you vote against this bill? He’d already voted for it — three months before I sent the email. He didn’t mention that, because he didn’t respond at all.

He also voted YES on HB 1792, the CHARLIE Act, on February 19. And YES on HB 365, the citizenship verification bill, on January 8.

I asked him whether, as someone who built his public identity on representing young people, he had anything to say about a session that produced a classroom censorship bill, a student voter ID ban, and a citizenship verification mandate with no fraud behind it.

Howard Pearl Had the Vote. He Used It.

Pearl is the one who matters most here. Hill and Thibault are House members — they can urge, lobby, call. Pearl had the actual votes. He sits in the chamber where these bills live or die.

HB 365 — He voted yes the day my deadline expired

April 9 was both the Senate floor vote on HB 365 and the response deadline I gave all three legislators. Pearl’s Judiciary Committee had already cleared it 5–2 on March 24. The full Senate passed it 16–8, party line. Pearl voted yes.

HB 365 requires the Secretary of State to verify the citizenship of registered voters. The problem it solves does not exist — no one has produced evidence of fraudulent voter registration in New Hampshire — and the state is already in federal court defending a related 2024 law (HB 1569, on trial before Judge Samantha Elliott). HB 365 stacks another layer on top of a system that’s already being litigated.

People who are already citizens — naturalized Americans who went through the process, took the oath, earned the right — will get flagged under this bill. Long-registered voters will face new paperwork. The state will spend money defending it in court and, if the pattern holds, lose.

I asked Pearl to vote no. He didn’t answer. Then he voted yes.

HB 1792 — The CHARLIE Act is coming to his chamber next

The Senate hasn’t voted on this one yet. When it does, Pearl will have to decide whether to pass a bill that his own Attorney General’s office told his own chamber is unconstitutional.

Assistant AG Sean Locke, head of the Civil Rights Unit, appeared before the Senate Education Committee on March 17. He said HB 1792 “presents constitutional concerns and risks conflicts with other laws.” He said the litigation risk led the office to oppose it “as written.” This is not the ACLU talking. This is the AG’s office under Ayotte’s own administration.

A nearly identical 2021 law was struck down by Judge Paul Barbadoro in 2024 as unconstitutionally vague. The state appealed. It’s still paying lawyers. HB 1792 opens a second front in a war the state is already losing.

I asked Pearl if he’d vote no. I asked if he’d push his caucus to kill it.

He did not respond.

HB 323 — He already voted for the student ID ban

Senate vote: 16–8, March 5. Strict party line. Pearl voted yes. Ayotte signed it April 3.

I asked him whether banning one type of ID — with zero fraud evidence behind it — was consistent with how New Hampshire has always done elections. He didn’t answer that either.

Greg Hill Voted for All of It

Hill is the Northfield fixture. Sixteen years in the House. Financial adviser. Knows how legislation works, knows what it costs when it goes wrong. He chairs the Legislative Administration Committee.

He voted YES on everything: HB 1792 on February 19 (184–164). HB 365 on January 8 (195–142). HB 323 on January 7 (190–148).

The CHARLIE Act is the one that should keep him up at night. It lets parents sue school districts for up to $10,000 per violation — per complaint, per teacher, per incident — over classroom instruction the bill defines so vaguely that the state’s own AG says it won’t survive court. The Winnisquam Regional School District serves Northfield. It is not a district with deep pockets. When the lawsuits come — and the bill is designed to produce them — the legal bills land on local property taxpayers. Hill voted for that.

I asked him whether he’d urge the Senate to kill HB 1792 given the AG’s position. I asked whether he thought he’d created legal liability for his own constituents’ school district. I also asked about HB 511, the anti-sanctuary city law he helped pass 351–6 in 2025 — the one that forces Northfield’s police department to hold people on federal immigration detainers, regardless of what the town’s officers think is the best use of their time and budget. If ICE doesn’t show up, the town carries the liability. Hill voted for that too.

The Questions None of Them Answered

Every legislator got a version of the same questions. Here they are.

1. The AG’s office says HB 1792 is constitutionally defective. Do you believe it should become law? If you voted for it, do you stand by that vote?
2. What voter fraud — specifically, in New Hampshire — justifies HB 365 and the student ID ban?
3. What will it cost Northfield school districts when parents start filing $10,000 claims under HB 1792?
4. Why should Northfield police officers do the federal government’s immigration enforcement work under HB 511?
5. Will you respond? If not, why not?

Zero replies. Not a no. Not a “call my office.” Not even a read receipt.

The Record

All votes at gencourt.state.nh.us. Roll calls are public record.

What Comes Next

The session runs through June 30.

HB 1792 has not reached the Senate floor. When it does, Pearl will have a vote. This article will be updated with that vote.

HB 365 passed the Senate 16–8 on April 9. It goes to Ayotte.

HB 323 is law. It takes effect June 2. Legal challenges are expected.

HB 1569 — the 2024 proof-of-citizenship law — is on trial in federal court before Judge Samantha Elliott. A ruling is expected before the September 8 primary. That ruling will shape what comes next for all of these bills.

If any of these three legislators respond after publication — by email, phone, or public statement — their full response will be appended to this article, unedited. They were told that before the deadline.