DOVER — Although the issue is not officially resolved, it appears that people living temporarily in New Hampshire can vote here without needing to become official residents.

Alan Cronheim, who represents four plaintiffs seeking the right to vote in New Hampshire even though they are not permanent residents, said that although the judge has not issued an order, the state agreed that college students and workers from out of state — like members of the military — can vote in New Hampshire without needing to register their vehicle or obtain a state driver's license.

“The point of the suit was there was no clarity,” Cronheim said, adding that his clients — four college students who plan to leave New Hampshire after they graduate — can vote in the state.

Cronheim said he anticipates that the judge will issue an order in the case early next week.

During a hearing in Strafford County Superior Court Wednesday, Judge John Lewis said he drafted an order that sided with the plaintiffs and would direct the New Hampshire Secretary of State's office to amend and re-issue the voter registration form, according to court records.

The proposed order also would notify election officials in towns, cities and unincorporated places throughout the state to use the new form for the November election and require the state to add a form to the Secretary of State's webpage to explain the voting process, according to court records.

“Out-of-state students attending school in New Hampshire do not, as a consequence of choosing to vote in New Hampshire, have to obtain a New Hampshire driver's license or register their car in New Hampshire,” Lewis wrote in the proposed form.

This would only apply to students who do not intend to stay in New Hampshire following graduation.

“If, on the other hand, a student has a definite plan to stay in New Hampshire upon completing their academic program, then the student has become a resident of New Hampshire under our laws and must obtain a New Hampshire driver's license and register their car in New Hampshire,” Lewis wrote.

In a memo filed Wednesday, Associate Attorney General Richard Head argued that the form asks voters only to swear they are “qualified to vote,” and have not and will not vote in at any other polling place during the election.

“The registration form does not require any voter to register their vehicle in this state and obtain a New Hampshire driver's license in order to vote,” according to the state's memo.

Head argued that the four plaintiffs “do not have standing,” since it's up to the court to determine “whether a plaintiff suffered legal injuries against which the law was designed to protect.”

On Wednesday, Head said he also asked the court to dismiss the matter

“Simply stated, they have not alleged a specific constitutional right that they are prevented from enjoying,” Head wrote in the memo.

Head also wrote that the challenged law is consistent with state law, as “every inhabitant of the state of 18 years of age and upwards shall have the equal right to vote in any election.” In order to vote, he added, a person must “register in the town, ward or unincorporated place he or she has a domicile.”

“Residency, while similar, does not truly overlap with domicile,” Head wrote in the memo.

For more information about voting and elections, visit the N.H. Secretary of State's website at http://sos.nh.gov. For more information about the N.H. chapters of the League of Women Voters or the American Civil Liberties Union, visit www.lwvnh.org or www.nhclu.org,

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John Quinn may be reached at jquinn@newstote.com.respectively.