Student voting is a perennial point of partisan friction in New Hampshire Elections. But on election day things were quiet in Hanover.
At lunch hour The Hanover High gymnasium was thick with voters……..It wasn't short on Lawyers either --and both had good reason to show…..In 2002, many new voters there were challenges by a local taxpayers group……Hanover Moderator Willy Black recalls the day - which was her time overseeing the polls.
We had never had challenges in any election and all of the sudden we every new voter challenges…..And it did't matter if they were Dartmouth students, or resident sof Kendal or Dartmouth professors -- every voter was challenges and it just snowballed into a chaotic mess.
This year there was anything but a mess…..In addition to the partisan lawyers, New Hamsphire's attorney general's office also had staff on hand to deal with any problems……And those were all but non-existent….By midday…. only two challenges has been mounted and both students were allowed to vote…….Standing outside the polls Democratic lawyers Dan Schwarz and Andru Volinsky joked about the lack of rancor.
I got assigned to come up here and everybody…..said oh there's going to be a lot of action in Hanover and we came here to be a calming influence….That's why we came…..
Oh I forgot
And we haven't had to calm much of anything, except the cold in my feet……
Inside GOP Lawyer Chuck Douglas scanned the room as new voters registered……Douglas allowed that the process of verifying students' residency status was made easy by the presence of college officials and improved technology.
"Dartmouth has their computer on line and basically it's been very well-run."
-So have you had challenged anyone?
"Yes I have had one challenge in three hours. It was a voter who voter here in 2000, voted here in 2002. She still has a Maryland liscense…..So I challenged on residence and the fact that she's still walking around with an out os state liscense after three elections….So we'll just keep track of it and turn it over to the prosecutor after the election."
What the prosecutor would do with information remained a concern for some students….Dartmouth senior Matt Bartack's drivers license was issued in Massachusetts. He was quickly reassured by Moderator Black.
"Nothing is going to happen to you…..The attorney general is probably going to send you a letter in six or 9 months have you changed your driver s
It's always been on the books but nobody's ever followed through on it."
But that doesn't mean the GOP wasn't being vigilant. 19 year old Chris Malone…..who approached the registration table wearing a large pendant bearing a no w……caught the eye of Attorney Douglas….Malone didn't help himself by saying he was in the process of moving to Killington Vermont. He also lacked a driver license or any other evidence to suggest he'd ever lived in Hanover…..After being challenged, Malone said he understood why he was sent to get ID, but confessed frustration just the same.
"Maybe I just have an antiauthority complex, but something about this hurts me…..but I'm sure it was all them doing their job and all that."
Reports from other college towns indicate that relatively few students faced challenges as they tried to vote…..Polls were scheduled to close in Hanover at 7 pm.
