CONCORD — The U.S. Department of Justice has approved a new state law requiring anyone wishing to vote to be a legal resident of the state at the time of voting.

Senate Bill 318 was vetoed by Gov. John Lynch but overridden by the legislature.

House Speaker William O’Brien said, “A fundamental premise of having elections that reflect the will of the citizens of a community or a state is that those who vote should be those who live in the city or town, and certainly the state, in which they are voting.”

Supporters said the bill will allow only the people who intend to remain in communities to vote in those communities, while opponents said the bill particularly targets college students.

The law would require a person to state they intend to establish a continuous presence in the community to be eligible to vote.

And new provisions require that any person establishing their domicile in New Hampshire follow all state laws, including motor vehicle laws which would require a change in a driver’s license and registration within 60 days.

Claire Ebel, executive director of the New Hampshire American Civil Liberties Union, said that requirement was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court about 40 years ago.

She said the law creates conflict in statutes, noting the new language removes a section inserted to address a state Supreme Court decision on domicile having no relationship to residence.

Ebel said the motor vehicle laws conflict with the new statute because they say a person can register their vehicle in the state only if he or she has an indefinite intention to reside here. If you don’t have an indefinite intention to reside here, you cannot register your car here, she noted, but under the federal court decision, you still have a right to vote.

She called the law far more troubling than the photo identification law the Department of Justice also approved this week.

Ebel said her organization is in the process of deciding if it will challenge the new registration law.

“It is always troubling when a piece of legislation is so clearly geared toward stopping students from voting,” Ebel said. “It’s always disturbing when law is aimed at a particular group of people to encourage or discourage them from participating in the voting process and that is what this does.”

O’Brien said the law is simple common sense.

“This commonsense law simply clarifies what should be obvious to all of us — people should vote where they live,” O’Brien said.

Under the law, “an inhabitant’s domicile for voting purposes is that one place where a person, more than any other place, has established a physical presence and manifests an intent to maintain a single continuous presence for domestic, social, and civil purposes relevant to participating in democratic self-government.”

The law also requires the secretary of state and attorney general to follow up on any individual who registers to vote without providing his or her identity.

The bill’s requirements will be in place for Tuesday’s primary election and for the November general election.

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Garry Rayno may be reached at grayno@unionleader.com.