Did you know that New Hampshire Clerks only reconcile the general election ballots they receive from the SOS? They are not required to reconcile the total number of absentee ballots they receive from the Secretary of State (SOS).
At the close of every election…
*We know the total number of general election ballots the Clerk receives from the SOS.
*We know the total number of general election ballots used on election day.
*We know the total number of unused general election ballots that are remaining after the election closes.
At the close of every election…
*We do not know the total number of absentee ballots the Clerk receives from the SOS. This total is not recorded anywhere.
*We do not know the total number of unused absentee ballots that are remaining after the election closes. This total is not recorded anywhere.
*All we know is the total number of absentee ballots that have been requested by voters.
If we do not know the total number of absentee ballots our Clerks receive from the SOS, and the total number of absentee ballots remaining at the end of their election, how can our Clerks confirm that every absentee ballot was accounted for? Why is this not a requirement of our Clerks? If the ballots were looked at as our money, we would definitely want to ensure everyone was accounted for.
***A letter and a form was emailed to all of the Clerks in NH. Our letter, following the form below, asks them to close this hole in our election process. We are asking them to start reconciling the total number of absentee ballots they receive from the SOS for the November 5th general election and all elections moving forward.
If you are able, please confirm that your Clerk received our email and the form below and will commit to filling out this form on November 5th. Thank you!
reconciliation-of-absentee-ballots-form-2024Dear Clerk,
We know you have so many election responsibilities and the next general election is nearly here. We appreciate all of your work and your team. We want this election to be one that has the best integrity it can.
We are asking for your help to close a hole in the area of managing absentee ballots. Today there is no record of how many absentee ballots our towns/cities receive, or how many are left over, making it impossible to ensure we are accounting for every ballot in a given election.
In 2020, there were more than 270,000 printed ballots that went untracked, so you can imagine if this was your bank account you would be concerned! We would like to fix this with your help.
We are asking you to record and sign off on how many absentee ballots your town/city receives, and how many are physically remaining at the end of election night on November 5, 2024.
Attached is a form we created for you to record this important information. There is a word document and a PDF for your convenience.
We thank you for all you do and appreciate you taking this extra step!
Please send us an email with any questions you might have.
Thank you and God bless,
Deb Roux
Brenda Towne
Al Brandano
Linda Brown
James Goodwin
Michael Bean
