In the ramp-up to elections in the Monadnock region’s small towns, it falls to a handful of volunteers and town workers to get each polling place ready for the big day.
Kevin Pobst and Stewart Brock were hard at work in the Francestown Town Hall on Sunday afternoon pulling out tables, moving the long wooden benches onto the stage and digging the accessible voting tent out of storage.
Pobst, who has helped set up for 31 Francestown elections, said they’ve always been run-of-the-mill.
“People are incredibly civil, and high-spirited, and it’s been really good, ” he said. “I’ve never had a disruptive voter in the time I’ve been here.”
As part of their preparations, Brock and Pobst made a sign to identify the poll worker who would be counting absentee ballots, so that that person won’t be interrupted.
“We don’t want anyone asking, ‘How come that person is just sitting there not doing anything?'” Brock said.
The Monday night before every election in Francestown, Town Administrator Jamie Pike personally sets up the voting booths. It’s something of a family tradition, as his mother was the town clerk and tax collector in Chichester for 35 years.
“I’ve been setting up voting booths for probably 40 years, since I was a kid,” Pike said.
Pobst said September’s primary was the closest he had ever seen the town come to running out of ballots. Brock, the town moderator, said the town was in touch with the state attorney general’s office about what to do if that happened, as it did in Peterborough.
“We had a much higher number of voters than historically turned out for the primary, and we started to get a little concerned, because we only had four or five Democratic ballots left. The state just said, ‘Make more,’ so we were making photocopies. But that was a good problem to have, because it was a high turnout,” Brock said.
September’s primary saw almost 700 voters in Francestown.
Pobst and Brock anticipate a high turnout on Tuesday, too.
“In the 2024 presidential election, we had 1,100 voters out of 1,500 people in town, and we think this will be a similar turnout,” Pobst said.
New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan predicted a record turnout of 635,000 voters statewide, rivaling the trend seen in the 2022 midterm election. He nodded to competitive federal and statewide races, get-out-the-vote efforts by political parties and the tax cap ballot question as the primary forces driving people to the polls.
Brock expects the election to go off without a hitch, as they typically do in Francestown. This is his first full year as town moderator, but he’s previously served on several town boards, including the Planning Board and the Zoning Board.
“Running elections is relatively smooth and easy. We have a good manual, the checklists are accurate, and the equipment works the way it’s supposed to,” Brock said. “I am a big fan of technology when it works properly, and our equipment works great.”
Brock, whom Pobst recruited as moderator, stepped in after former moderator Paul Lawrence retired after 29 years. Pobst said he was inspired by Lawrence’s skill at running Town Meeting and started volunteering as a result, including serving his own two-year stint as moderator.
Both Brock and Pobst shared concerns about the lack of younger volunteers on local committees and boards — a problem shared across the region — but said they’ve never have trouble finding people to help with elections. Brock said they recently recruited three or four volunteers under age 40 to help with the election.
“We’re very lucky in Francestown,” Pobst said. “People are happy to help with elections.”
Tuesday’s election may be one of the last at the Francestown Town Hall, as the town is considering moving elections to Francestown Elementary School in 2027 after the town’s withdrawal from the ConVal School District.
“It’s a better setup, better parking, better flow, more restrooms, there’s a kitchen, so we’re thinking about that once we own the building,” Brock said. “We’ll see.”
