Op-ed written by Secretary of State David Scanlan
10/28/2022
As we prepare for the upcoming November 8 General Election, it is important for voters to know that New Hampshire elections are conducted with many checks and balances.
Our local election officials, moderators, clerks, supervisors of the checklist and selectpersons all have important roles in conducting an election. They are your neighbors and are elected from the community in which they live. They are elected because the voters have faith and trust in their ability to fulfill the responsibilities of the office they hold. Chances are good that you know at least one of them personally. This is why they are the trusted source of information.
The supervisors of the checklist prepare and post an updated voter checklist before every election so other voters can see who is qualified to vote in their polling place prior to the election. Voter registrations can also be accepted and approved on the day of the election.
The two major political parties have a presence in the polling place on the day of the election. The parties have the first opportunity to appoint inspectors of election, also known as ballot clerks. In many polling places a member of one party crosses the name of a voter off the checklist as the member of the other party hands the voter a ballot. They get to keep an eye on each other. The parties can also appoint official challengers who the moderator can place in close proximity to the ballot clerks to observe the check-in process.
Any person can observe all of the activity within a polling place from start to finish from outside the rail, and any voter in the polling place may challenge the qualifications of another voter based on specific information. While it is important to protect the privacy of individual voters when they are casting a ballot or filling the information on a voter registration form, everything else in the polling place is required to be done in the open.
Many towns use electronic ballot-counting devices to count ballots, but every vote is cast on a paper ballot printed under the direct supervision of the Secretary of State. The electronic ballot-counting devices in use are “stand alone” units that have no wireless or internet capability and are not wired into central tabulation facilities. Clerks are responsible for keeping the devices secure with numbered seals and logs to keep track of maintenance and use before, during and after elections.
After the polls close, the moderator announces the results of the election and posts the ballot-counting device tape if one was used. Those same results are entered on the “return of votes” form to be delivered to the Secretary of State early on the morning after the election. The results from those returns are compiled so the results from every elective office can be certified.
Based on the certified results a candidate can request a recount which is conducted entirely by hand. During this process, the candidate and the candidate’s representatives can view the marks on every ballot and have the opportunity to challenge how individual ballots are being counted. Appeals of challenged ballots can be made to the Ballot Law Commission.
After the election is over, the marked checklist used on the day of the election is a public document of who participated in the election and whether or not a person voted by absentee ballot.
These checks and balances are important to the way we conduct elections in New Hampshire and set a strong foundation for the confidence we can have in our electoral outcomes. Participating in the election process is easy, and we encourage all voters to exercise their right to vote.
David M. Scanlan
Secretary of State
Anna Fay
Communications Director, New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office
(603)731-2286
Anna.Fay@sos.nh.gov