[MonadnockChapter] NH Considering New Voting Machines

[Andrew Harmon]

Hello
I just saw a segment on NH Close-up talking about how the NH Ballot
Commission is considering replacing their currently aging electronic
voting machines. I don't know if they're gotten any input from any
blind voters, but I found an article saying three towns are piloting
the machines from the company the commission is considering hiring to
replace the machines in Ashland, Winchester, and Newport.

If anyone has any info about whether or not the commission is getting
input, please share - I hadn't heard anything about this, so I thought
we should ensure that Secretary of State David Scanlon and the
commission are ensuring accessibility. I am including the NH PR
article I found and the direct link to contact our Secretary of State
below.

Have a great weekend all and I want to give a special shout-out to the
NFB NH Equalizers for doing so very well with the fund-raising this
week! I hope you guys managed to outrace the rain yesterday and thanks
for doing such an amazing job all!

Sincerely

Andrew Harmon

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NH PR article on ballot commission:
https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2023-01-16/nh-ballot-law-commission-moves-forward-with-assessing-new-counting-machines

Secretary of State contact page:
https://www.sos.nh.gov/contact-us

Print copy of article in case the list serve doesn't like the links:

James Rundlett of Clear Ballot Group ran a demonstration of the
company’s ballot machines to the Ballot Law Commission on Wednesday.
New Hampshire’s Ballot Law Commission is continuing to test out
different ballot counting machines as it seeks to replace the state’s
aging ones.

The commission, which sets the criteria and has the final say for
certifying ballot counting machines in the state, met on Wednesday to
assess several companies’ ballot counting machines. Here’s what
happened.


The Commission is considering ballot machines made by Clear Ballot Group.
The commission met with representatives from a company called Clear
Ballot Group, which wants to have their ballot counting machines
approved so that towns in New Hampshire could use them for elections.
The state uses those machines when conducting its routine election
audits.

James Rundlett, national sales manager at the company, showed the
commission how the ballot machine works.

“We believe this is the future of elections,” Rundlett said.

Clear Ballot Group’s ballot devices are being used in various parts of
the country, including in parts of the Pacific Northwest, Kansas,
Seattle, and Ohio.

While Rundlett highlighted that the machine can quickly identify and
categorize write-in votes digitally, he emphasized that it doesn’t
divert any write-in votes into a separate box – which Commission Chair
Brad Cook said goes against one of the listed criteria for ballot
machines.

He said more research is needed to see if the Clear Ballot machines
comply with the state’s ballot machine standards.

It also remains unclear whether the Clear Ballot machines also have
the capacity to separate overvote ballots into a separate pile, which
is mandated by a recentlaw passed in June of 2022 for overvotes to be
counted by hand.

Following the presentation, the Commission voted to allow any
municipality that’s interested to pilot the Clear Ballot machines in
future elections.


For town meeting,  Winchester will pilot machines made by Election
Systems And Software.
In a unanimous vote, the committee approved the town of Winchester’s
request to try out ballot counting machines made by Election Systems &
Software in spring town elections.

Town clerk Jim Tetreault said the machines were a clear candidate.

“One of the criteria was something that was not demonstrably different
from what we currently have, so that voters wouldn’t notice much of a
difference,” he said.

The town has been allocating money for the past several years to fund
the purchase of whichever machine will replace their current AccuVote
machines.


Ballot counting machines used in a pilot program in three New
Hampshire towns for the 2022 midterm elections will be revamped,
company founder says.
VotingWorks, one of several companies in the running to replace New
Hampshire’s AccuVote ballot devices, had their devices used in a pilot
program during the midterms in Newington, Ashland and Woodstock.

While a recent audit from the Secretary of State’s office from Tuesday
found that the company's machines counted votes accurately during the
2022 general election, Secretary of State Dave Scanlan noted there
were some hardware issues with the machines. Those included a machine
jam at one of the ballot places, and in Newington, ink streaks left on
the VotingWorks machine scanner forced the town to switch back to the
AccuVote machine to process ballots for the rest of the day.

Scanlan said that doesn’t fully rule VotingWorks out of the running,
but the company would need to make some upgrades if they are going to
be used again.

Of potential upgrades, Cook said he’d like to see a different model
for the machine’s ballot container: currently, it is a canvas bag
which, in his view, doesn’t “instill confidence” in voters.

VotingWorks said it would revamp their equipment so that they can be
better suited for New Hampshire election processes.

“We’re going to be able to make a system that responds to the specific
needs of New Hampshire,” said VotingWorks founder Ben Adida, who
appeared before the Commission on Wednesday.

Adida said they'll be changing the ballot containers and machine
design. He said they’re particularly focused on making their ballot
scanners even faster for New Hampshire voters, since ballots in the
state typically have several pages to them.