Rep. Gregg Hough: He wants the resignation of Ward 6 Councilor Tony Felch

To The Daily Sun,

I feel betrayed, embarrassed, angry and cheated — in the recent discovery that one of our own entrusted with the sacred public trust of overseeing and moderating our self-governing process and to protect the integrity of our elections has egregiously failed every single one of us in that task.

According to New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella, Laconia City Councilor and Ward 6 Moderator Tony Felch was directed to resign as moderator. One hundred-seventy-nine ballots across multiple election were not counted. Also, double counting totaled some 500 votes. The AG’s release went on to say, “Moderator Felch’s actions and failures are completely unacceptable and entirely unfair to the citizens of Laconia...”

The statement went on to say that there was no evidence supporting deliberate or intentional misconduct however Felch blamed the lack of training for the election integrity breach. I would submit that Councilor Felch has been moderator for some time now and Laconia has five other wards that seem to have understood how to count ballots properly.

There is, to my understanding, no way to find out if elections were adversely impacted. That also means that we can’t find out if they were. Remember, Councilor Felch oversees his own elections for both moderator and City Councilor.

It is for the absolute shattering of the public trust placed in Councilor Felch, and the egregious nature of his failure to protect our most sacred institution of free and fair elections that I must insist that Councilor Felch submit his resignation from his position as City Councilor of Ward 6 and any other position he may hold of public trust. I hope that then, Ward 6 and the city of Laconia can get past this black mark on our integrity and our elections.

Rep. Gregg Hough

Laconia