By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
Democracy in action has been on full display this week as election recounts for close races like Sullivan County District 5 House of Representatives took place at the State Archives, where Republican George Grant gained three votes and secured a win to oust Democrat Linda Tanner from her seat.
In Sullivan County District 5 House of Representatives (Sunapee and Springfield), Republican George Grant narrowly defeated incumbent Democrat Linda Tanner by a vote of 1,683 to 1,669. With the decision in the general election on Nov. 5 decided by only 14 votes, Tanner called for a recount that took place on Thursday afternoon.
After about four hours of counting, there were three more votes for Grant and one additional vote for Tanner, and his win was official. The final tally was 1,686 votes for Grant and 1,670 votes for Tanner, making it a 16-vote margin.
Despite taking the loss, Tanner was happy that there is a system in place for close calls like this.
“This gives you faith in the electoral process and shows that there are checks and balances,” Tanner said.
Grant said that the District 5 race shows just how split the region is. He noted that there was just a 10-vote difference in Sunapee in favor of Tanner, but the Republican voters stepped up in Springfield to put him over the top.
“Springfield is a little more Republican, and we got the guys out of the woodwork to get out and vote,” Grant said. “Republicans are not known to vote as much, but this time around we beat the doors and got them out to vote, and that’s where I gained my 14 votes. I was up 24 in Springfield and down 10 in Sunapee. I knew it was going to be close right there.”
Grant admitted that it can be a monotonous process that can take hours on end, noting that the littlest thing can bring about a challenge.
This was the third straight election where there was a recount in a race between Tanner and Grant, except the last two had Tanner walking in — and walking out — as the winner. She said when coming in as the winner, it is a little more calming than having to play the waiting game to see if there were discrepancies. Win or lose, Tanner said it is an interesting process and also shows a little bit about the voters.
“Something that has been very interesting to me, being my third one, is that it shows many people don’t really know how to vote,” Tanner said. “Some people voted for two and only supposed to vote for one, or they voted for me but also wrote in my name. There are also the ones who didn’t take it seriously, writing Mickey Mouse in or something.”
Secretary of State David Scanlan, as well as members of his staff like Deputy Secretary of State Erin Hennessey, were at the State Archives throughout the day to monitor the recounts.
“This is an important part of the process,” Scanlan said. “Especially when they are close races, it gives the candidates and their supporters the opportunity to see every single ballot, how it was marked, and how it was counted. In the end they may not like the result, but at least we have this. It’s really important that this process is transparent and that is why New Hampshire has always kept a paper ballot where you physically mark your choices.
Scanlan said when it is a close race these ballots can be reviewed vigorously, recounted, and candidates and onlookers can see this all up close.
The day started with a recount of the Hillsborough County District 9 race, where the outcome did not change, and then around 2 p.m. the recounters for Sullivan County District 5 went to work.
New this year was that prior to the recounts there have been “top-of-ticket audits” for representative in Congress pursuant to RSA 660:17-b.
For the District 5 race, there were three teams of recounters set up at stations where they looked at the ballots through a projection system. Some of the recounters included newly elected Reps. Michael Aron and Wayne Hemingway, as well as newly elected Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill.
According the Secretary of State website, the system had two cameras that did not record, which included one at each recounter’s part of the table. Each projected onto two monitors that faced the opposite side of the table that was designated for the candidate or their designee.
Each recount team had a tally sheet that was pre-labeled with the race being recounted, and the team recorded the appropriate information including the town the box of ballots was from, the number of ballots, names, dates and the N.H. Archives and Records Management box number they were assigned to.
At the beginning of the recount, the recounters introduced themselves, identified the candidate or their counsel, and instructed them in the procedure. Candidates or designee were instructed that they could control the tempo of the recount, be shown every ballot cast, not touch any of the ballots, and that only they can challenge how a ballot is recounted or not recounted.
Candidates, designees and observers were also not allowed to use writing utensils or have food or drink at the recount table. Conversations also needed to be done outside the room.
The secretary of state or designee opens all the boxes from each race in the view of the candidates, designees and observers. If the box contained ballots cast, the number was determined and placed on the recount table to be sorted and recounted. If the box had uncast ballots, recounters fanned them in front of the candidates, and uncast ballots are not counted.
For boxes containing absentee ballots, recounters slightly bended the envelopes to show that there are no absentee ballots without proper rejection reasons laid out by law.
Each candidate or designee has the right to challenge the recount, and the secretary of state rules on the ballot and how it was recounted. Challenged ballots are presented to the Ballot Law Commission if there is an appeal to the recount result. If at any time there is a discrepancy, the secretary of state can suspend the recount.
The secretary of state declares the result of the recount, which is final unless the result is changed due to an appeal made by the Ballot Law Commission.
Scanlan was pleased with the way the recounts had gone throughout the week.
“Recounts have gone smoothly, and there are a couple new aspects to the process like the audit and keeping track of undervotes and overvotes,” Scanlan said. “This helps reconcile at the end. It all gives confidence in the end result.”
