Officials say few cases, no systemic problem

By Mark Hayward, NH Business Review

When the presidential primary takes place early next year, would-be voters who register at the polls will face a new law designed to thwart illegal voting.

If the newly minted voters don’t produce an ID, they will be registered and their votes will be counted that night. But the votes will also be segregated, and if the voters don’t produce proper paperwork, such as a valid ID, in seven days, their vote will be thrown out.

A supporter of the law, known as SB418, said it helps to shore up confidence in the state elections while keeping any barriers at a minimum.

“Jan Six doesn’t happen if you have a system people look at and believe is not being abused,” said state Rep. Ross Berry, R-Manchester, the chairman of the House Election Law Committee. “Jan Six” refers to Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters of defeated President Trump stormed the Capitol to prevent final counting of Electoral College votes.

Detractors say the law, which survived an early court challenge in November, is overkill and fits in with Trump’s “Big Lie,” which claims massive voter fraud and rigged elections were responsible for his defeat.

“It (the new law) is just another way to scare people and keep them from voting,” said state Rep. Connie Lane, the ranking Democrat on the Election Law Committee. “It’s not an issue of fraud, they don’t want the (college) students voting.”

For most of this century, politicians and the press have focused on elections and the potential for fraud and misconduct. Controversies range from the hanging chads of Florida ballots in 2000 to Republican Gov. Chris Sununu’s never proven 2016 claim of Democrats “busing people all over the place.”

The year after Sununu’s statement, the state launched the Election Law Unit within the Attorney General’s Office.

The Unit investigates a host of election-related complaints including campaign finance, election official misconduct, illegal campaign activity and voter fraud. It has won about 15 voter fraud convictions since 2016, said Attorney General spokesman Michael Garrity.

“New Hampshire has elections that are decided by one or two votes so even a couple fraudulent votes in an election can make a difference,” he said.

Investigations and reviews have determined there is no systemic wrongful voting in New Hampshire.

With an active, highly engaged population and seriously minded local poll workers who know their communities, fraud is rare, he said.

Complaints come from election officials, rival campaigns and regular citizens. The most arise during the general election in presidential years, when more people are voting and more people are paying attention, Garrity said.

In the last two years, the Election Law Unit has investigated 36 cases of voter fraud. And Garrity said New Hampshire has tallied more convictions for voter fraud in the recent past than the other five New England states, combined, citing a data base maintained by the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation.

Every six months, the Election Law Unit publishes a tally of the complaints it has received and the status of investigations.

Officials logged 12 complaints of wrongful voting in the second half of 2022; five were closed out and seven remained open as of Sept.27.

Convictions over the years have involved out-of-state people voting in New Hampshire, people with homes in New Hampshire and another state voting in both states, and people voting in two different New Hampshire locations.

Most are placed on probation, fined and lose their right to vote. At least one was incarcerated for six months.

A review of files finds some amusing cases. 

In Litchfield in 2020, election workers became suspicious when they saw the same handwriting for a man and his wife on absentee ballot paperwork.

The man admitted signing for both him and his incapacitated wife, and voting for her, too.

“(Name redacted) stated that he and his wife have been married for 30 to 35 years … (and) that he knows who his wife would vote for,” reads a report.  Election Law investigator Richard Tracy convinced him that he was not allowed to vote on behalf of his wife, he agreed, and the case was closed.

Last year in Chester, a local resident who is a British citizen confessed to town officials he had been voting since 2015. He had believed that as a town resident and homeowner he was allowed to vote but had recently learned of his error during an immigration proceeding.

The town road agent and a selectman vouched for his honesty. State officials issued a cease and desist order, which prevents him from voting unless he becomes a citizen.

Every case is unique, Garrity said.

“We go where the facts and the law take us and make the best decisions we can in the interests of justice,” he said.

Election Law officials say the number of cases and complaints increased with the launch of the Election Law Unit, but has been stable since then.

“It’s clearly not widespread,” Lane, the Democratic state representative, said about voter fraud. 

Berry agrees and acknowledges some hyperbole in years past.

“These people who say there are convoys of buses coming up on election day, it’s untrue,” he said. 

The Know Your Vote, youth voter guide  project was designed, reported and produced by student and young professional journalists from The Clock,The Concord Monitor, The Equinox, Granite State News Collaborative, Keene State College, The Laconia Daily Sun, The Monadnock Ledger-Transcript, Nashua Ink Link and The Presidency and the Press program at Franklin Pierce University. See the full guide at  www.collaborativenh.org/know-your-vote.