{"id":9595,"date":"2024-01-15T12:45:45","date_gmt":"2024-01-15T12:45:45","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"New-Hampshire-voter-fraud-15-convictions-since-2016-53667255\/","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/?p=9595","title":{"rendered":"NH sees 15 voter fraud convictions since 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>

When the presidential primary takes place early next year, would-be voters who register at the polls will face a new law designed to thwart illegal voting.<\/p>\n

If the newly minted voters don\u2019t produce an ID, they will be registered and their votes will be counted that night. But the votes will also be segregated, and if the voters don\u2019t produce proper paperwork, such as a valid ID, in seven days, their vote will be thrown out.<\/p>\n

A supporter of the law, known as SB418, said it helps to shore up confidence in the state elections while keeping any barriers at a minimum.<\/p>\n

\u201cJan. 6\u00a0doesn\u2019t happen if you have a system people look at and believe is not being abused,\u201d said state Rep. Ross Berry, R-Manchester, the \u00a0chairman of the House Election Law Committee. \u201cJan. 6\u201d refers to Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters of defeated President Trump stormed the Capitol to prevent the final counting of Electoral College votes.<\/p>\n

Detractors say the law, which survived an early court challenge in November, is overkill and fits in with Trump\u2019s \u201cBig Lie,\u201d which claims massive voter fraud and rigged elections were responsible for his defeat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt (the new law) is just another way to scare people and keep them from voting,\u201d said state Rep. Connie Lane, the ranking Democrat on the Election Law Committee. \u201cIt\u2019s not an issue of fraud. They don\u2019t want the (college) students voting.\u201d<\/p>\n

For most of this century, politicians and the press have focused on elections and the potential for fraud and misconduct. Controversies range from the hanging chads of Florida ballots in 2000 to Republican Gov. Chris Sununu\u2019s never proven 2016 claim of Democrats \u201cbusing people all over the place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The year after Sununu\u2019s statement, the state launched the Election Law Unit within the Attorney General\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

The Unit investigates a host of election-related complaints including campaign finance, election official misconduct, illegal campaign activity and voter fraud. It has won about 15 voter fraud convictions since 2016, said Attorney General spokesman Michael Garrity.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Hampshire has elections that are decided by one or two votes so even a couple fraudulent votes in an election can make a difference,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Investigations and reviews have determined there is no systemic wrongful voting in New Hampshire.<\/p>\n

With an active, highly engaged population and seriously minded local poll workers who know their communities, fraud is rare, he said.<\/p>\n

Complaints come from election officials, rival campaigns and regular citizens. The most arise during the general election in presidential years, when more people are voting and more people are paying attention, Garrity said.<\/p>\n

In the last two years, the Election Law Unit has investigated 36 cases of voter fraud. And Garrity said New Hampshire has tallied more convictions for voter fraud in the recent past than the other five New England states\u00a0combined, citing a database maintained by the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation.<\/p>\n

Every six months, the Election Law Unit publishes a tally of the complaints it has received and the status of investigations.<\/p>\n

Officials logged 12 complaints of wrongful voting in the second half of 2022; five were closed out and seven remained open as of Sept.27.<\/p>\n

Convictions over the years have involved out-of-state people voting in New Hampshire, people with homes in New Hampshire and another state voting in both states, and people voting in two different New Hampshire locations.<\/p>\n

Most are placed on probation, fined and lose their right to vote. At least one was incarcerated for six months.<\/p>\n

A review of files finds some amusing cases.<\/p>\n

In Litchfield in 2020, election workers became suspicious when they saw the same handwriting for a man and his wife on absentee ballot paperwork.<\/p>\n

The man admitted signing for both him and his incapacitated wife, and voting for her, too.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Name redacted) stated that he and his wife have been married for 30 to 35 years \u2026 (and) that he knows who his wife would vote for,\u201d reads a report. Election Law investigator Richard Tracy convinced him that he was not allowed to vote on behalf of his wife, he agreed, and the case was closed.<\/p>\n

Last year in Chester, a local resident who is a British citizen confessed to town officials he had been voting since 2015. He had believed that as a town resident and homeowner he was allowed to vote but had recently learned of his error during an immigration proceeding.<\/p>\n

The town road agent and a selectman vouched for his honesty. State officials issued a cease and desist order, which prevents him from voting unless he becomes a citizen.<\/p>\n

Every case is unique, Garrity said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe go where the facts and the law take us and make the best decisions we can in the interests of justice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Election Law officials say the number of cases and complaints increased with the launch of the Election Law Unit, but has been stable since then.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s clearly not widespread,\u201d Lane, the Democratic state representative, said about voter fraud.<\/p>\n

Berry agrees and acknowledges some hyperbole in years past.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese people who say there are convoys of buses coming up on election day, it\u2019s untrue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative as part of its What to Expect When You\u2019re Electing Series. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.<\/em>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the presidential primary takes place early next year, would-be voters who register at the polls will face a new law designed to thwart illegal voting.If the newly minted voters don\u2019t produce an ID, they will be registered and their votes will be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":392,"featured_media":9596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_newspack_byline_active":true,"_newspack_byline":"by [Author id=392]Mark Hayward[\/Author] NH Business Review","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,508],"tags":[25],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[573],"class_list":["post-9595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-top-headlines-cm","tag-primary-2024","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/42697173-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/392"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9595"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9597,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9595\/revisions\/9597"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9595"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fnewspack_spnsrs_tax&post=9595"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=9595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}