Secretary of State explains how vote totals grow in recounts

LACONIA — On general election night, longtime Lakes Region journalist Gail Ober, a Democrat, appeared to defeat her Republican opponent Richard Beaudoin by a dozen votes.

Beaudoin, who runs an electronics repair shop, initially didn’t want a recount, saying, “I’m not that small-minded.” But he eventually opted for a recount at the urging of Republican Party Vice Chair Alan Glassman.

In New Hampshire, it’s inexpensive to seek a recount. It only cost Beaudoin $10.

He ended up winning by a single vote.

The race makes for a case study on how the way voters fill out ballots can lead to changes in election outcome after a recount.

Before the recount, Ober had 2,583 votes and Beaudoin had 2,571.

After the recount, Beaudoin had gained 17 votes and Ober had three additional votes. This gave Beaudoin a total of 2,588 votes and Ober 2,586. The Ballot Law Commission invalided one vote, so Beaudoin walked away with a one-vote victory.

So how did 20 extra votes materialize in the recount that weren’t there on election night?

Secretary of State William Gardner provided an explanation Monday.

The New Hampshire House of Representatives, with 400 members, is the nation’s largest.

Ober and Beaudoin were among eight candidates for four open positions in Belknap District 3. Ballots instructions stated, “Vote for not more than 4.” Voters are also instructed to “completely fill in the oval to the right of your choice.” The instructions warn that “if you vote for more than the stated number of candidates, your vote for that office will not be counted.”

Not everybody follows directions.

Some will vote for more than four candidates. Others don’t fill in the oval, but instead circle or underline the candidate’s name or put a check mark next to the name or next to the oval.

“Machines are accurate, but you have to follow the rules,” Gardner said. “You have to fill that oval in and if you don't, when it's a recount, we determine the intent of the voter.”

Ballots with irregularities will not be machine-counted on election night, but some will go into the final tally if they are examined in a hand recount.

In the case of the Ober-Beaudoin race, those who voted for fewer than four candidates on election night didn’t have their vote tallied until the recount. Those who voted for more than four invalidated their ballot.

It’s not unusual for the total number of votes cast to go up in a recount, Gardner said.

“What is unusual is that the original count stays the same,” he said. “They always change, and they tend to go up a little bit.”

There were 20 recounts statewide after the Nov. 6 general election. A second recount in Belknap County did not overturn the election night outcome. Democrat Charlie St. Clair defeated Republican Steve Whalley.

Errors on the part of election officials occasionally lead to discrepancies.

Two years ago, then-State Sen. Andrew Hosmer, a Democrat, narrowly lost to Harold French. After a recount, the vote total in Laconia’s Ward 5 decreased. It appeared votes were missing. The reality was that local election officials had counted some ballots twice, once by machine and again by hand. The error was picked up in the recount.

The low cost of recounts and the big size of the House of Representatives result in the New Hampshire having more recounts than any other state,  Gardner said.

He also said these recounts provide insight into best election practices.

For example, the state outlawed punch card ballots in 1986, before they were widely viewed as problematic elsewhere, including, famously, in the 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore in Florida, where “hanging chads,” became household words. 

Gardner also said the state avoided the mistake of going to a paperless, computer ballot. He said other states that tried this found out voters were dissatisfied and were left with doubts about election results.

He said his goal is to maintain public confidence in elections.

“Every recount that I have done, and I’ve done almost 600, if there was a voting machine, it is recounted by hand,” he said. “Every ballot is looked at and seen by the candidates’ observers, who have as much time as needed.”

If there is still a dispute, it goes to the Ballot Law Commission.

For her part, Ober said she doesn’t regret her decision to run for elective office, even though her seeming victory was overturned in the recount.

“It is what it is,” she said. “It was fun. At least I played the game. Others choose differently, but we all get the government we deserve.”