To the editor:
I talked with the Jaffrey Select Board on Oct. 10 to see if we had enough petition signatures (72) to return to hand counted elections in November,
We don’t. But there is another glitch. Who decides to make the change – Select Board or Town Meeting?
On a voice vote in 2003, Town Meeting voters approved purchase of a “vote counting machine.” But it was the Select Board that decided to change from hand counting. Town Counsels Tower (2012) and Dowd (2013) told Town Meetings that only the Select Board has authority to choose which vote counting option Jaffrey will use.
I have asked the Select Board to get a written clarification from the Attorney General.
In the meantime, we can still “vote to have our votes counted” as our N.H. Constitution and laws consistent with it require. Copy the PDF file posted on Jaffrey Voices Google Group (“2016 Petition/Applicable State Laws”) and ask friends, relatives and neighbors, who are registered Jaffrey voters, to sign.
I would be glad to speak with small groups, and, weather permitting, will be at the polls on Nov. 8.
Since fewer than 300 voters approved the AccuVote’s purchase in 2003, I have now set a goal of 300 signatures.
For more information about:
1.) What pre-election ballot testing does and doesn’t do, check out the visual on “wisconsinelectionintegrity.org.” An unknown number of moderators, including Derry’s, are choosing to do hand count checks to make sure the computer is counting accurately on election night.
1.The “Oct. 10, 2016 presentation to Jaffrey Select Board,” see posting on Jaffrey Voices. (Members can respond to posts and add your own.)
Thank you to the 26 people who have volunteered so far to help count ballots.
Deborah Sumner
Jaffrey