The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire took up their cause and won. U.S. District Judge Paul Barbadoro said in a 42-page decision that the state had violated the First Amendment in providing a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist.

The record “does not include any evidence that either vote buying or voter coercion has occurred in New Hampshire since the late 1800s,” Barbadoro wrote.

He added: “Few if any rights are more vital to a well-functioning democracy than either the right to speak out on political issues or the right to vote free from coercion and improper influence. But the record in this case simply will not support a claim that these two interests are in irreconcilable conflict.”