The Blue View: Hampton ballot counting machines should stay

By Matthew Saunders

Originally published January 31, 2022 in Seacoast Online.

The debate over whether Hampton should remove electronic ballot-counting machines in favor of hand-counting is a clash of opinion versus fact.

Those who introduced the warrant articles calling for the machines’ removal are of the opinion that this will restore “ballot integrity.” They refuse to cite facts or data that support their position, because there simply aren’t any. There is not a shred of evidence that the counting machines have prevented any Hampton resident’s vote from being properly counted.

The people behind this effort did not even bother to talk to Hampton’s Town Moderator Bob Casassa to understand how removing the machines will impact our election procedures. I, on the other hand, had a long and informative conversation with Mr. Casassa, who has been in the position since 2004 and is intimately familiar with the machines. In fact, he tests them himself before every election. What he shared with me should be enough to convince everyone that removing the machines is a mistake that will have severe consequences for Hampton’s elections.

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Hand counting the ballots will mean we can no longer hold our elections at Winnacunnet High School. Votes must be counted where they are cast, and hand counting will go long into the night and, for some elections, well into the next day. Because the high school requires the use of its cafeteria, the election will need to move to a location that allows for longer counting periods. There are no immediately obvious alternative venues that provide the high school’s size, centralized location, and parking. Moving the polls to a smaller, less centralized location is likely to result in longer lines, more difficult parking, and even fewer people turning out to vote than do now.

Removing the machines also means that we will need around 100 volunteers to conduct the hand count. These volunteers will need to be trained, and then must be at the polls before they close and stay until the count is done, no matter how long that takes. They may not have food, water, or coffee with them when they count. Finding 100 volunteers willing to work through Tuesday night into Wednesday (and possibly beyond) will be difficult enough. Finding 100 volunteers who can count thousands of ballots more effectively and efficiently than machines will be impossible.

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This all makes very clear that hand-counting will not improve Hampton’s voting process. Instead, it will do the opposite: by introducing the element of human error, and worsening the voting experience, the voters of Hampton will have less reason to trust the process, and more reason not to vote at all. If we let the facts guide us, I’m certain that we will rejectthis effort. I hope you will all join me in speaking out against articles 39, 40, and 41 at the deliberative session on February 5, and in voting no on March 8.

Matthew Saunders is an attorney at Saunders & Silverstein LLP, and has lived in Hampton with his wife Mary and two daughters for almost 10 years..