Voter ID law causes no problems for election officials

LACONIA — Echoing New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, City Clerk Mary Reynolds said yesterday that the general election proceeded smoothly and in particular the law requiring voters to show photographic identification posed no problems for election officials.

Reynolds said that personnel posted at the six polling stations asked voters for their photo IDs when they arrived and directed those without it to a table where they were asked to complete a "challenged voter affidavit" before casting their vote. She said that some voters refused to present a photo ID as a gesture of opposition to the law, but readily completed the affidavit. On instructions from the Secretary of State she declined to disclose how many affidavits were submitted.

Attorney David Bownes, who served as a legal observer in Laconia during the election, said he was impressed by how effectively the election was conducted. "Both the voting and the registration process are working very smoothly," he said, adding that the election officials showed every sign of having been very well trained.

In Belmont, B.J. Eckhardt, who met voters at the door, said that by around 11 a.m. on election only "a handful of voters" appeared without photo IDs. "Lots of people are thanking us," she observed, "and telling us what a good idea it is." Moderator Tom Garfield remarked that "only an occasional person who wants to challenge the law has refused to show a photo ID."

"We've had no problems whatsoever," said Denise Gonyer, the Gilford Town Clerk/Tax Collector. She noted that she closed the office at Town Hall and assigned her entire staff to the polls in anticipation of a heavy turnout of voters, expecting many of them to have questions.