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N.H. recount results are unchanged after Ballot Law Commission meeting

Secretary of State David Scanlan (right), looks on as staff prepare for recount of absentee ballots in House race
Josh Rogers
/
NHPR
Secretary of State David Scanlan (right), looks on as staff prepare for recount of absentee ballots in House race

New Hampshire's Ballot Law Commission upheld the outcomes of two contested recounts in House races on Monday, which means a near partisan split when the legislature convenes next week. Republicans will hold 201 House seats, Democrats 198, with one race tied.

The commission took up several appeals related to recounts of contested races for the state legislature, affirming earlier rulings on challenged ballots by Secretary of State David Scanlan — including his request to count 27 absentee ballots not tallied on election night in a race for a House seat currently held by Brentwood Republican, Melissa Litchfield.

“I’d absolutely appreciate the voters’ voices being heard today,” Litchfield told the commission before it authorized counting the absentee ballots Monday afternoon.

Litchfield lost to Democrat Eric Turer on election night by 15 votes.

The newly counted absentee ballots, which Brentwood’s moderator testified were mislaid on election night, increased Turer’s victory margin to 23 .

The committee’s review of challenged ballots in a Coos county House race upheld the recount win of Democrat Eamon Kelly. Kelly lost to Republican John Greer by a four votes election night, but prevailed by two votes in the recount.

The commission took no action on two other races, after candidates on both sides dropped planned challenges.

One of these races was for the Manchester house seat that Republican incumbent Larry Gagne won on election night, before an initial recount flipped it to Democrat Maxine Mosley.

After an audit in another race confirmed 25 ballots weren’t included in the first recount, Scanlan announced he wanted to “continue” the recount.

Democrats sued in Superior Court arguing Scanlan lacked the legal authority to order a second recount. Judge Amy Ignatius ruled Democrats were correct as far as state law goes, but cited state Supreme Court rulings to order a second full recount, completed last week, that upheld Gagne’s initial win.

After that ruling, Mosley filed a “blanket challenge” of the second recount with the Ballot Law Commission, pointing to the same statutes cited in her lawsuit. But Mosley withdrew the challenge Monday.

Candidates in a House race out of Rochester — Republican David Walker and Democrat Chuck Grassie — mutually withdrew their challenges to individual ballots.

Walker received one more vote than Grassie on election night count, but a recount found both candidates actually received the same number of votes: 970.

How their tied race gets settled remains unclear. The House could choose to seat either candidate by a simple majority vote. Simple attendance may decide the outcome of any vote, given the razor thin margins in the House.

Citing precedent from 1992 — the last time a house race ended in a tie — Democrats have called for the matter to be settled by a special election.

Outside the hearing Monday, Walker and Grassie, who live on the same street and have been involved in Rochester politics for decades, both said they were willing, but confessed concern about what another election would mean for Rochester voters.

“The poor people in the district were just inundated during the last election, and to see that happen again during the holidays is going to be tough,” Grassie said.

Walker, meanwhile, told reporters he wouldn’t predict how this situation will resolve itself.

Nor was Walker certain about wanting to start campaigning again.

“No, not really, “ Walker said. “But, tally ho.”

Josh has worked at NHPR since 2000.
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