Our Secretary of State announced New Hampshire’s first Civic and Voter Education Coordinator in a news release in June. The article reads, “Secretary Scanlan created the position of Civic and Voter Education Coordinator to increase voter engagement efforts within the state.” It would be easy for Granite Staters to read this article, agree with the sentiment of keeping our elections alive and well, and move on to the next article. But let’s practice taking a deeper dive.
The first and most important question to ask is if our SoS has the right to create this position in the first place. In other words, was he given permission? A new RSA passed in 2024, HB1014 does allow for election education by amending RSA 189:11, I-c(f) to include the language in bold lettering: “(f) The role, opportunities, and responsibilities of a citizen to engage in civic activity. This shall include information on the laws governing election and voting pursuant to RSA 189:23.”
But RSA 189:23 reads as follows (emphasis added): 189:23 Distribution. – The state board of education is hereby directed to distribute copies of the state constitution and election laws to all teachers of history and civics in the upper grades of elementary schools and to teachers of United States history in junior and senior high schools to be used by them in instructing their pupils relative to the laws governing election and voting.
We want to thank Ann Marie Arone for this Contribution. Submit yours to steve@granitegrok.com
In this RSA, there is no discussion of a coordinator creating a civics curriculum, nor does it discuss sharing this information with other groups, such as seniors and veterans. It says only that the teachers in our school system instruct students using their curriculum and materials given to them by the Board of Education.
The second question we need to ask should be, “Is she truly qualified?” This is a comment she made in the article: “I believe strongly that those before me passed the torch of democracy to my generation, and it’s our responsibility to continue that passing of the torch to the next generation.”
It is disconcerting that a person hired to create a curriculum on civics would be confused about our form of government. We are not a democracy but a constitutional republic. The problem with a democracy is that it is actually a socialist concept and it lacks restraint. If more than half of the people want something, they rule. This is why Benjamin Franklin said, “A democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what to have for dinner.” Failed Marxism has been reformulated with the word “democracy” to overcome American resistance to socialism and disguise it’s tyrannical core. In the Constitutional Republic, however, the government is limited by laws, which in turn protects minority groups as well.
Let’s also take a look at the curriculum for her master’s degree in Globalism from Northeastern University. Note that the American Heritage Dictionary describes globalism as the “development of social, technological, or economic networks that transcend national boundaries.” In other words, she has been trained to transcend our government and replace it with a global government. You can see this in one of the required master’s courses, Globalization and Global Politics and Economics.
The description from Northeastern reads, “Analyzes the impact of globalization on political and economic systems, such as capitalism, democracy, socialism, nationalism, totalitarianism, and populism. Offers students an opportunity to use…tools to hypothesize the impact of future global trends on contemporary political and economic systems.” How could she possibly be in a position to teach our population about the uniqueness of American civics and voting systems?
Anyone disapproving of the overreach in this job description or the candidate chosen should contact the Secretary of State at 603-271-3242.
