Voters are heading to the polls for today's state primary. In this final stretch before the general election, NHPR has been talking to New Hampshire voters about the issues they're paying attention to at the local and national level. Here's some of what we heard.
Denise Steadman: I think the homeless issue in New Hampshire is very important and the housing. So I'm hoping that whoever gets in can really help with construction, building homes for these people who want to come to New Hampshire. And I know a lot of people want to come to New Hampshire.
Barbara Desjardins: People get older and older, and as you become a senior and you become retired, you have a fixed income. That income doesn't change. Well, the cost of living goes up. You still get the same amount of money. So then you think about, “How am I going to manage?” And if anyone does anything to Social Security, I will be very, very mad. That's the truth. Because we have worked years and years.
Eric Habben: I hope that Donald Trump is elected. I certainly am in favor of his stance regarding illegal immigration. As to whether he's going to be able to deport the people or not, that remains to be seen. But certainly we need to at least have a pause as far as letting all these people in, because I think that it is not only economically bad for the country, but I also think that it is really dividing us. I think that the population as a whole will benefit from it, including those who came here legally.
Jesse Rutherford Resseguie: It's all a community at the end of the day. Policies I feel would help with that are keeping the personal liberties intact. If it's in your own home and it's your own body, you make your own choices. It's not something for somebody else to dictate how you deal with that. I am transgender and I am also not straight. And our legislation upholding non-straight marriage is kind of crucial for that to continue.
Karina Quintas: Arms embargo on Israel, and everything that flows from there. Palestinian rights. Humanitarian aid. Making up for our atrocities.
Barbara Jo Kingsley: I'd like to hear more about concern for climate change and continued efforts to do what we can as a country to mitigate climate change, especially with supporting small agriculture and getting away from the large corporate farms and corporate meat packing.
Christa Desjardins: Definitely abortion and women's rights. I think that women should have the right to make decisions about their own body, and that shouldn't be dictated by anyone else in charge.
Peter Kingsley: The biggest issue I'm thinking about as I head to the polls is saving democracy. I think it's a threat. There are forces that are trying to keep people from voting. There are forces that are trying to keep the votes that are cast from being counted properly. I don't think our governor has done a really bad job, but I think the Democrats would do better.
Music in this story by Blue Dot Sessions.
