Hands Off
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This Week in Democracy
Hands Off
Trying to replace a modern voting system with a full hand count leads to significant obstacles for election officials. States United tackled the realities of that in a?report released last month ?in partnership with The Elections Group. Now, that message is proving true in communities across the country. Local election officials agree.
This week in New Hampshire, eight more towns?rejected ballot measures ?that sought to ban the use of voting machines in favor of counting ballots by hand. None of the votes were particularly close, either: one town voted against it 381 to 43. With only one exception, every town that has voted on the measure in recent weeks—twelve in all—has voted it down. New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan?said ,?“There was a lot of misinformation that was being spread. I think the general public saw through it, and the votes at those town meetings reflect that.”
The measures were placed on ballots after a group supported by prominent conspiracy theorist and Election Denier Mike Lindell?attempted to ban voting machines statewide , one town at a time. As of this week, only 23 of the 55 New Hampshire towns they targeted have even presented the measure to be voted on.
And when it came time to vote, New Hampshire towns affirmed that they prefer counting votes as they always have: accurately, reliably, and securely, using voting machines. In Texas,?an attempt in Gillespie County ?to hand count a party primary introduced mistakes and human error into the process, underlining the fact that voting machines are more accurate and reliable.
The remaining New Hampshire towns will vote on the proposed hand count measure soon, but?as one town selectman said , “we have the utmost respect and confidence in our election officials and the process as it stands.”
State of the States
In Georgia,?Judge Scott McAfee?granted a request ?from Trump and eight of his co-defendants to appeal last week’s decision denying their attempt to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting the election interference case against them. The defendants are likely to apply to the state Court of Appeals, which will have 45 days to decide whether to hear the case. In the meantime, Willis intends to continue moving the case forward and will ask McAfee to schedule a trial date as soon as this summer,?according to CNN .
In the News
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