Court orders county attorney candidate’s name stricken from ballot

LANCASTER — Ballot by ballot a day before the Nov. 8 election, municipal clerks throughout Coos County spent time drawing a line through the name of Coos County attorney Republican candidate Roger Sylvestre after a court determined he was not professionally qualified for the race he entered.

“A candidate’s name has been removed from your ballot. The Coos County Superior Court ruled that, as a matter of law, county attorney candidate Roger Sylvestre is not qualified to be county attorney as he is not an attorney and is not a member of the New Hampshire Bar Association. Therefore, the Court ordered that his name be struck from the ballot and election officials will not tally, record, or certify any votes cast for Roger Sylvestre."

From Gorham to Berlin to Milan and Coos municipalities in between, it was made clear on the ballot that Sylvestre could not be selected.

It is unknown what prompted Sylvestre to seek an elected office requiring a law degree when he is not an attorney, per the superior court’s ruling.

Calls to a phone number listed online for Roger Sylvestre in Clarksville before and on the day of election were not returned.

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Sylvestre was a partisan challenger for the incumbent and Democratic Coos County attorney, John McCormick. McCormick’s name remained on the ballot.

McCormick was in court on Tuesday, working, and could not be reached for comment.

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