New Hampshire Youth Groups, Others Rally For Democracy: Watch

CONCORD, NH — Youth groups as well as others are organizing in New Hampshire and have created a new group advocating democracy.

The groups are uniting under the name, the New Hampshire Democracy Defenders Coalition. They held a rally at the Statehouse in Concord Wednesday urging all votes to be counted across the country — "to stand in solidarity with democracy defenders across the country, fight back against attempts to halt the counting of mail-in ballots, and defend the voice of the people if Trump attempts to illegitimately cling onto power." The org plans another round of rallies Saturday around the state.

Josie Pinto, the political director of New Hampshire Youth Movement, said many people in New Hampshire voted by absentee ballot and, fortunately, the ballots needed to be counted Tuesday night. But that did not happen across the country.

"We likely won’t know the national outcome for days or possibly weeks, which is why it's more important than ever to ensure every vote is counted and that the people decide the outcome of this election," she said.

Isaac Grimm of Rights and Democracy said, "The will of the people must be heard" which is why it was "up to the people to be leaders in this moment, and in the event of a desperate power grab, to demand that every vote be counted and democratically elected leaders are sworn in in a peaceful transition of power."

Lila Kohrman-Glaser, the executive director of 350NH Action, said the coalition would ensure that votes were counted and voices were heard.

The org said Friday it had 180 organizers and volunteers who worked to get more than 1,000 young people to vote for both Joe Biden and Dan Feltes while also making 50,000 phone calls, sending more than 101,000 texts, and reaching more than 3,100 people via peer-to-peer organizing. They also backed the campaigns of a number of youth state representatives.

The groups include New Hampshire Youth Movement, Rights & Democracy NH, 350 NH Action, Black Lives Matter Nashua, Black Lives Matter Seacoast, Black Lives Matter Manchester, Never Again Action NH, NH Progressive Coalition, Kent Street Coalition, American Friends Service Committee NH, Granite State Interfaith Action Fund, Nonviolent Citizen Action, Showing Up for Racial Justice, and Frontline.

Got a news tip? Send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube channel. Follow the New Hampshire Patch Politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.