Nader requests N.H. vote recount

[gldstwmn]

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/...060040/-1/news

By KEVIN LANDRIGAN, Telegraph Staff
[email protected]

Published: Saturday, Nov. 6, 2004

CONCORD - Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader requested a hand recount of ballots in New Hampshire after getting seven-tenths of 1 percent of the vote.

“We have received reports of irregularities in the vote reported on the AccuVote Diebold Machines in comparison to exit polls and trends in voting in New Hampshire,’’ Nader wrote.

“These irregularities favor President George W. Bush by 5 percent to 15 percent over what was expected. Problems in these electronic voting machines and optical scanners are being reported in machines in a variety of states.’’

Nader’s recount request came in as a fax at 4:59 p.m., one minute before the deadline.

The application is not legal, however, because it did not come with payment, according to Assistant Attorney General Bud Fitch.

“At this point, we aren’t considering it to be a valid request,’’ he said.

Anyone who loses by more than 1 percent of the vote has to pay for a recount, he said, noting the cost statewide could be $80,000.

Nader can appeal that decision to the state Ballot Law Commission.

Two years ago, the commission agreed to go forward with a recount for a legislative seat after a losing candidate tried to fax a copy of the check to pay for the recount.

Secretary of State Bill Gardner said a Nader official told him the campaign tried to fax a copy of the check to pay for the recount but it jammed.

“If they appeal, it’s up to the Ballot Law Commission to settle this,’’ Gardner said.

Fitch said he had been in contact with Nader campaign officials throughout Friday to inform them of the recount requirements.

In the request, Nader said he wants either a full recount or a “statistically significant sample audit’’ of these vote counts.

“We would like to make sure every vote counts and is counted accurately,’’ Nader wrote.

Gardner said his staff intends to meet today to schedule the 14 recounts that were legally requested - three state Senate elections and 11 for seats in the 400-person House of Representatives.

The recounts requested on Friday included Hillsborough County District 27, the Hudson-Litchfield-Pelham district that elected 13 representatives on Tuesday.

Hudson Democrat Donna Marie Marceau requested the recount after finishing 32 votes away from the 13th-place finisher.