An injustice was done, and a single individual citizen said, “No, I will not let this stand.” That was Linda Brown. She did the digging into the process and the materials and found that things were not done correctly.
Only through the efforts of a curious citizen reviewing the results of the recent Sandown Selectman’s race this past March was the correct Selectman finally seated. How do I know this?
I was tipped off by a Sandown resident that there had been a large error in counting the votes and that the Sandown Selectmen had seated the wrong person. As you will see in the video, even though she had brought it to their attention, it was clear that the Selectmen were not all that bemused with her – I would call it outright hostility. Shades of “you are making so much work for us and making us look bad.”
And from watching the recording, that sentiment was clear. Yet, they still did the right thing when it was brought to their attention. The Eagle-Tribune also has covered the story of this mistake (reformatted, emphasis mine):
Human error leads to wrong Sandown resident being sworn in
SANDOWN — A troublesome error was discovered during a citizen’s independent recount of the March 14 election results: The wrong selectman was sworn into office. Sandown officials initially announced that Edward Mencis received more votes than Robert Nickerson on election night — 269 to 217.
A review three weeks later found a clerical error in the vote tally. Nickerson actually received two more votes than Mencis with a count of 271, not 217. A citizen’s request for election documents led to a discovery that tallies from separate voting machines, hand-counted ballots and write-ins were incorrectly reported with transposed numbers.
Mencis, along with top vote-getter Benjamin Sharpe, was already sworn in as selectmen on March 20 based on the town-reported tally. Town Clerk Dawn Nicolaisen was notified of the error by the citizen afterward. She reviewed the tally and inspected the results printed from the voting machines and discovered the same mistake. She determined human error was to blame. “It was 100% human error in my office,” Nicolaisen said. “It was nothing to do with the tapes or the voting machines.”
The town alerted the New Hampshire secretary of state and attorney general about the error. Those top state officials advised the town to seek an agreement between both candidates that Nickerson was the rightful winner.
The Selectmen, the Town Clerk, and the Moderator all combined to do the right thing. Mr. Mencis graciously resigned and Nickerson was sworn in. All ended well. And I’m betting that a better checklist and double-checking of numbers will soon be advanced in Sandown. So, an embarrassing event was righted. Good for them!
I’ve oft said that one person CAN and DOES make a difference here in NH and this is yet another example of someone that said “This doesn’t feel right” and got to work. I called Linda Brown to get a little more background (she is the lady that moved from the audience to the “witness” table during the video) and find out why.
Gobsmacked – she quoted the NH Constitution – Part 1:
[Art.] 8. [Accountability of Magistrates and Officers; Public’s Right to Know.] All power residing originally in and being derived from, the people, all the magistrates and officers of government are their substitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them. Government, therefore, should be open, accessible, accountable and responsive. To that end, the public’s right of access to governmental proceedings and records shall not be unreasonably restricted. The public also has a right to an orderly, lawful, and accountable government. Therefore, any individual taxpayer eligible to vote in the State, shall have standing to petition the Superior Court to declare whether the State or political subdivision in which the taxpayer resides has spent, or has approved spending, public funds in violation of a law, ordinance, or constitutional provision. In such a case, the taxpayer shall not have to demonstrate that his or her personal rights were impaired or prejudiced beyond his or her status as a taxpayer. However, this right shall not apply when the challenged governmental action is the subject of a judicial or administrative decision from which there is a right of appeal by statute or otherwise by the parties to that proceeding.
and Article 38:
[Art.] 38. [Social Virtues Inculcated.] A frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles of the constitution, and a constant adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, industry, frugality, and all the social virtues, are indispensably necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty and good government; the people ought, therefore, to have a particular regard to all those principles in the choice of their officers and representatives, and they have a right to require of their lawgivers and magistrates, an exact and constant observance of them, in the formation and execution of the laws necessary for the good administration of government.
One person.
“Be Brace – Do Something”. Methinks she did.
How about you?
