By Chris Frost
Eagle Times News Editor
CLAREMONT N.H. —The election may be over, but the results aren’t settled, as Ward III Councilor Jonathan Stone has requested a recount for his seat.
According to unofficial results, challenger Jonathan Hayden edged out Stone by a 247-241 margin on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
Stone requested a recount from the City Clerk’s Office at around 8 a.m. Wednesday.
Stone notes officials don’t hand-count votes unless there is a recount request.
“In the last election I had, our standings didn’t change, but the numbers certainly went up,” he said. “If someone did something on the ballot that may not have triggered the machine, that’s quite possible. It’s not uncommon to pick up votes either way. Mr. Hayden can pick up more votes doing a head count.”
Today’s vote canvass will certifies what the city clerk does, Stone said.
Stone understands the recount may not bring him victory.
“I think the last one was about two years ago, and the standings didn’t change,” he said.
He said validating the voting process is always worth it.
“The recount is scheduled for 8 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14,” he said. “Three years ago, we did it [a recount] in the city hall chamber. Usually, they’ll set up tables, and it’s only going for the Ward III councilor votes, so that will make it pretty quick to go through. I’d say maybe two hours tops. It’s open to the public.”
Stone said the city councilors not involved with the race have to be at the recount and will do the counting.
“We had a pretty fair [voter] turnout that’s consistent with what we did in the past,” he said. “There was a lot of pushing from different sides of the spectrum as far as parties go. This is the first election we’ve had when they claimed not to be partisan, yet they’re all of one political group, and the other ones are clearly declared Republicans.”
“I found out on Monday they had operatives of their group in front of schools handing out cards, saying who to vote for,” he said. “They were doing some door-knocking,” said Stone who said residents told him he hadn’t been the first person to visit them when he was out campaigning himself.
He called the effort to unseat him a “massive push.”
“A lot of this new group are also members of the CDA [Claremont Development Authority], which I was looking at getting a councilor to look at them or disband them,” Stone said. “Most of the members of the CDA are part of this group. They handle city properties and city funds.”
He said there are issues with the financial impact the Authority is having.
“We have this restaurant that has been rehabbed for at least 10 years, if not more,” he said. “It’s been a slow process, and they’ve put a lot of money into it, and we’ve competed with different projects. This entity has been in existence for over a decade, and you really question how efficient they are and how they get stuff done.”
Stone said he thinks the people who campaigned against him see him as a threat.
“If you’re out there digging into this stuff, you’re going to create controversy and an us versus them mentality,” he said.
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