On the Trail: Unravelling how Democrats in one NH race wound up getting extra votes – Concord Monitor

Answers may finally be coming over the cause of an apparent voting discrepancy in a state House of Representatives election last November in Windham which grabbed national exposure and even caught the attention of former President Donald Trump.

Gov. Chris Sununu this week signed Senate Bill 43 into law, which authorizes a forensic audit of the Rockingham County District 7 race in Windham.

The saga began on Election Day last November when Democrat Kristi St. Laurent, a candidate for one of four seats to represent Rockingham District 7 in the state House, was just 24 votes shy of winning. The narrow margin automatically triggered a recount of the ballots.

Then things really got interesting.

The recount discovered that four long-serving AccuVote optical scanning machines that were used on Election Day shorted the four GOP candidates in the contest between 297 and 303 votes. Three other Democratic candidates were shorted 18 to 28 votes, but the recount showed St. Laurent was credited with 99 more votes than were cast for her.

The result of the recount which was witnessed by dozens of officials and observers was, to say the least, puzzling.

With state law only allowing for a single recount in political races, New Hampshires Ballot Law Commission accepted the recounts results. But Republicans asked the state Attorney Generals Office to investigate the matter.

A bill calling for the forensic audit sailed through both the state House and Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support and landed on Sununus desk at the beginning of the week.

New Hampshire elections are safe, secure and reliable, Sununu said in a statement after signing the bill. Out of the hundreds of thousands of ballots cast this last year, we saw only very minor, isolated issues which is proof our system works. This bill will help us audit an isolated incident in Windham and keep the integrity of our system intact.

The audit will take place later this spring in Concord.

So how did Trump hear about the controversy?

Give credit there to Howie Carr, the well-known nationally syndicated conservative talk radio host and strong supporter and ally of the former president.

Carr briefly chatted with Trump in early February while dining at Mar-A-Lago, the former presidents residence and resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Carr said he told Trump about the vote discrepancy in Windham, which he said piqued the former presidents interest.

After Trump narrowly lost New Hampshire in the 2016 general election to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, he charged without providing any proof that there was massive voter fraud in the state.

And Trump continues to refuse to concede the 2020 election to now-President Joe Biden. He promoted unfounded claims that last years election was rigged and stolen from him as he unsuccessfully tried to reverse his loss to Biden.

As the first special election legislative election in New Hampshire this year, the showdown in Merrimack for the state House of Representatives seat left vacant by the December death of House Speaker Dick Hinch grabbed tons of attention in recent weeks, both in the Granite State and even nationally.

Merrimack town councilor Bill Boyd succeeded in his mission to keep the seat in Republican hands, defeating Democratic candidate and former state Rep. Wendy Thomas by a roughly 53%-45% margin.

Both parties spent a good amount of time and resources on the race.

Two potential 2024 GOP presidential contenders, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, each headlined virtual New Hampshire GOP fundraisers to help raise money for Boyd.

And state Democrats, looking to rebound from losing the majorities in the both chambers of the New Hampshire legislature as well as the Executive Council in the November elections, raised more than $32,000 and contacted over 10,000 voters on behalf of Thomas.

Special elections tend to draw outsized attention, and both sides were spotlighting the potential political ramifications of the contest.

First Congressional District 2020 Republican nominee Matt Mowers, who helped the NHGOP organize the Pompeo and Cotton fundraisers for Boyd, characterized Merrimack as a swing town.

You saw a lot of ticket splitting last year, he said.

He argued that Boyds win spells a lot of problems for Democrats in the midterms and its certainly encouraging for those of us who want to see more common sense, whether thats in Concord or down in Washington.

Longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley rejected the notion.

Merrimack is a traditionally Republican town, and the fact that Wendy Thomas came so close to victory shows just how strong our Democratic values are in red areas across the state, he said.

Buckley said the special election results were another step in the continued journey to turn Merrimack blue.

The participation by Pompeo and Cotton to help raise money for a special state legislative election should come as no surprise. This is New Hampshire, which for a century has held the first in the nation presidential primary.

With the early pre-season moves in the 2024 GOP presidential nomination race already underway in New Hampshire as well as Iowa, South Carolina, and Nevada, the other three early voting states in the primary and caucus calendar along the road to the White House, its never too early to make friends that could pay dividends down the road.

After Boyds victory, he received congratulatory calls from Pompeo, Cotton, as well as former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a 2016 presidential candidate whos mulling another stab at the White House in 2024.

Later this month, on April 28, Christie will make a remote appearance before a virtual meeting of the Right of Centergroup of leading Granite State conservative activists and leaders thats co-chaired by NHGOP chair Steve Stepanek and former state House Speaker Bill Obrien.

Christie will become the second potential GOP White House hopeful this year following Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, the National Republican Senatorial Committee chair to headline the groups regular meetings.

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On the Trail: Unravelling how Democrats in one NH race wound up getting extra votes - Concord Monitor