Today March 9, 2022, everyone lost the most precious thing we have as citizens in our local and state elections, Trust. And like a soap bubble, once it pops, it’s nearly impossible to get it back.
In Kensington, NH, on March 8, with about 1/3 of the eligible voting population voting, by a vote of 60/40, warrant article #21 to ban voting machines was defeated.
The good news is that awareness is growing, from near zero to 40% in just 3 short months, with no help from the press that failed to investigate the facts, as well as supported a misplaced “emotionally backed campaign” to support town officials – allowing once again the main culprit for over 30 years to slip away unnoticed.
Emotions don’t like facts and facts don’t like emotion.
We want to thank Al Brandano for this Op-Ed. If you have an Op-Ed or LTE
you would like us to consider, please submit it to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
Whatever side you feel more comfortable on at some point – we need to address the other.
We have lost trust in our local press/ journalism to speak truth to power – to cover the stories with open questions and real investigation.
We have lost trust in our legislators and especially the ballot commission which has nearly 50 bills in front of it – to try to address the many shortfalls in policy/ procedures – best practices and risk-limiting audits, to make our voting as secure as the money in your bank account, what every citizen expects. Yet still no action!
We have lost trust in each other regardless of party affiliation because we stopped teaching civics to the next generation. If you do not know your rights -you do not have any.
We have lost trust in voting machines as a result of a virtual 30-year no-bid contract with LHS Associates. That prints ballots, sell services and maintains machines, determines test features, programs and writes all software, to which the state of NH has no oversight or chain of custody requirements. What could possibly go wrong?
We have lost trust in Town Clerks, Moderators, and Selectmen – (violating their oath of office) the last stop in guarding our sovereignty, instead has sacrificed our voting rights over to the efficiency of a machine.
Asked the public to trust them -yet in many cases have also made systemic and ongoing flagrant errors of omission in witness/ maintenance records of the Machine Activity Logs – failing the basic steps in protecting our voting rights. Will the NH Justice Department act?
Ask yourself again -why did you vote for machines?
I trust the citizens of NH -over any machine. To return to our 250-year civic tradition of counting ballots that I believe will unite us regardless of political persuasion. Communities of people young and old joined together with a common cause regardless of emotions, to do our duty as citizens of this great state of New Hampshire. This can and will be the healing bridge we have all been searching for, to restore our faith and trust in each other, and our government.
