It should be a simple thing to get a voter checklist in NH, the “First in the Nation Presidential Primary State” where anyone from anywhere in the US and abroad can vote same-day and walk away. This is how we here in NH have as many registered voters as we have citizens old enough to vote.
Related: NH Registered Voters – Including Voters From All States Who Vote Here.
Some concerned lawful citizens want to check their own voter checklist. They have, by statute, a cost imposed by law: RSA 654:31 Availability of Checklist and Voter Information.
Under definitions:
“(c) “Nonpublic checklist” means the checklist bearing the names of voters who by law are entitled to have their status as a voter kept nonpublic.
(d) “Public checklist” means the checklist required by RSA 654:25 which contains the names of voters who by law are to be listed on a checklist available to the public in accordance with the restrictions established by this section.”
(No mention of a “marked checklist.”)
Then we have the mandated cost to the public for the public checklist:
“II. In towns and cities, the public checklist as corrected by the supervisors shall be open for the examination of any person at all times before the opening of a meeting or election at which the list is to be used.
The supervisors of the checklist or city or town clerk shall furnish one or more copies of the most recent public checklist of their town or city to any person requesting such copies. The supervisors of the checklist or city or town clerk may only provide checklist information for their town or city.
The supervisors of the checklist or city or town clerk shall charge a fee of $25 for each copy of the public checklist for a town or ward. For public checklists containing more than 2,500 names, the supervisors of the checklist or city or town clerk shall charge a fee of $25, plus $0.50 per thousand names or portion thereof in excess of 2,500, plus any shipping costs. The supervisors of the checklist or city or town clerk may provide public checklist information on paper, computer disk, computer tape, electronic transfer, or any other form.”
Last week, I had a volunteer from Henniker take $25 to the Clerk’s Counter to get the marked past public checklist used on election day last November 3, 2020. The marked public checklist is the public checklist the municipalities use on election day and it is often where the town will write on it – SAME DAY REGISTRANTS.
This makes the marked public checklist very valuable for citizens to track who comes and goes to vote and what domicile they use to do so.
Oh, but the “marked” public checklist is .50 per page, $203.00 instead of $25.00. So, my volunteer left without anything.
Last Friday. I went to the Henniker Town Clerk’s window with $26.00 for the current public checklist and extra 1,500 names on that public checklist.
Apparently, there was some confusion – like with domicile and residence, about the “marked” public checklist being different than the “public checklist” – which it was and is. There is no statute differentiating marked for public.
The helpful assistant showed me her reasoning for .50 per page – as opposed to .50 per THOUSAND registered voters above the initial 2,500 names on the public checklist. The Town of Henniker got this definition of “marked” public checklist right from the Secretary of State’s office.
I put an enhanced copy of RSA 654: 31 on the desk. We read it together.
They called Gardner’s office again with the promise someone there would call me right away.
My phone rang and I was talking to Bud Fitch, now in Gardner’s office. His two other gigs were with the NH AG’s Office and former US Senator Kelly “1,017” Ayotte – she who should move to Florida with our other past US Senators.
Bud Fitch explained the costs the Town was charging. I asked what statute refers to a “marked” public checklist.
No answer.
But by luck, the helpful lady at the Henniker Clerk’s counter made me a copy of a page in the book the NH Secretary of State sent Henniker.
The top two column headers, first and second, show a conundrum that costs taxpayers a ton of money, and town officials a ton of time – depending on how you read it.
- A Current “Public Checklist” has a statutory cost, $25.00 and .50 per THOUSAND extra names.
- A – “Marked Checklist from Prior Election” is .50 per PAGE. That would be $203.00 in the case of Henniker.
Here you have the Secretary of State telling Henniker to charge .50 a PAGE for the entire “marked” public checklist – not defining if you want only one page, as I got from Hooksett when CNHT caught triple-state voter, Michael LaSean Lewis in 2016. (A case not resolved by NH yet.)
This mess, which looks like a way, by excessive cost, to prevent NH citizens from tracking same-day voters from out-of-state. Especially in a college town.
I read Secretary of State guidelines this way. The way it is written:
- A Current Public Checklist by RSA 654:31 $25.00 and .50 per thousand over 2,500.
- A Marked Checklist (undefined by statute) from Prior Election is not current so it would be up to the municipality. There is no law regarding this cost.
But here is the part town will not like.
I am, by law so far, permitted to review the marked checklist, which I am going to do in Henniker when they are ready with my current public checklist – I paid for.
Then as I review the 406 pages I will leave a sticky note on the pages with marks showing which ones I need copies of. Then the town will have to take the 406 paged apart, make copies for me, and put the checklist back together as it was.
It would be much simpler for the Town to charge a reasonable fee, $25.00 let us say, for the entire past marked checklist. They could simply make a few extra copies when they put the original together.
But no.
Transparency in NH election documents has been taking a hit, legal or not, for 20 years.
And the same people are involved.