TOWN RECOUNT

I will never again assume that the voting tabulation process is trustworthy. Not because of human intervention but due to machine errors. I think the recounts in Moultonborough have proved my worst fears. Somehow 14 votes were mistabulated on the school SB2 question and 19 votes on the town SB2 question. Hand counting revealed spoiled ballots and no vote ballots which somehow were incorrectly tabulated. While some in the Town take comfort that the recount changed the outcome only slightly statistically; the real concern to me is that the facts of election night were not the same facts as determined by the recount. In a small town where every vote should count 1.4% of the votes were tabulated incorrectly. This does not inspire confidence.

On a side note, I did have a chance to witness the recount process on the School SB2 Question and I was very impressed with both the diligence of the School Board and School Board Moderator in the recount process. The Town has every right to be proud of these elected officials. I for one am very thankful to them for the time and effort they put into the process.

Another issue of concern is that there were I believe 75 ballots that were not completed on the back side. One can only assume many of these voters did not know to turn it over. Some perhaps chose to “abstain” on the school issues, but consider that far fewer ( 16 I believe)left the SB2 question blank on the town portion. As a side note, I found it almost humerous that the town moderator( per the notice posted in the library) found it necessary to ask the school district to name the town clerk “assistant moderator” for the recount as he was concerned for the security of the ballots. We all know how dangerous the streets of Moultonborough can be. On a final note, the town moderator has no official role at the school district recount yet he apparently asked who the challengers were and stated that only they could challenge at the proceedings. This is incorrect. Firstly,he had no authority there and the process by NH Election Law is supposed to be exactly as it was conducted for the town recount with the expception that it is under the complete control of the school board and school board moderator. He had no right to call for the challengers nor to restrict observers. Any registered voter is allowed to observe and anyone present can ask questions or challenge.