New Hampshire State News

Vol. 1, No. 6--December 23, 2004

Thus far, there really is no New Hampshire Caucus group to speak of, but I am anticipating that by the end of January it will be mighty crowded under this tent.

I can tell you a little about the recount situation in our state. I'm told by Sharona Merel, New Hampshire resident and co-founder of the National Ballot Integrity Project, that our state started it all, setting the precedent for other states to open up their November results for recounting. Not much changed here--after recounting 50,000 presidential ballots in 11 precincts fewer than 200 votes were re-assigned. As the Nader campaign, which requested the recount (and paid the $14,000 it cost to conduct), said the results show New Hampshire has a reliable system of counting votes. That system does indeed involve voting machines that are electronic, in that they plug in, but they use paper ballots, leaving for the record (and recounts!) true evidence of the intentions of the people. For that we can thank our own Secretary of State, William "Bill" Gardner. According to Merel, it was Gardner who recently provided the lone sage voice among 49 other Secretaries of State when it was proposed that all states be required to institute touch-screen voting. His firm "nay" was enough to table the matter--for the time being.

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