NH Secretary of State To Appoint Election Monitor In Bedford

BEDFORD, NH — State officials will appoint an election monitor for the primary election in Bedford after finding unprocessed absentee ballots from the 2020 general election.

David Scanlan, the New Hampshire Secretary of State, in consultation and agreement with Attorney General John Formella, will make the appointment after “significant deficiencies” were found with the handling of ballots in town during the election. Specifically, 188 uncast absentee ballots were discovered after the November 2020 election, and more ballots were found from the general election during a special election in September 2021.

State officials conducted a review of the situation as well as an additional investigation and a public session where voting materials were inventoried. In early April, after a court order, the ballots were tallied and matched with the names of voters who cast the ballots. This process was done, according to Michael Garrity, the director of communications for the attorney general’s office, to ensure voters were told about the mishap and uncounted ballots. During this process, two more uncounted absentee ballots were found, he said.

“Additionally,” Garrity said, “an envelope containing ballots that were found on the morning of the 2021 Special Election was opened to tally the total number of ballots in that envelope and the specific election in which the ballots were cast.”

Officials determined the mishaps were due to election official error. The ballots did not change the outcome of any of the races. However, officials said the “serious mistake” resulted in “the failure to count the votes of nearly 200 Bedford voters.”

Garrity said the state would close the matter after receiving written confirmation from Bedford election officials that all voters have been contacted and the appointment of the election monitor for the primary, and a receipt of the monitor’s report after the Sept. 13 vote.

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