New Hampshire

A conservative N.H. group is trying to ban voting machines in 22 towns – The Boston Globe

Published

2 years ago

March 12, 2024

A conservative N.H. group is trying to ban voting machines in 22 towns – The Boston Globe

Members of the group believe machine counts are âhackableâ and encouraged residents from around the state to gather the 25 signatures required to put a warrant article on their townâs agenda.

They insist hand counting is more transparent and accurate, although research shows the opposite is true, including a 2012 study from New Hampshire and a 2018 study in Wisconsin.

While the far right and conspiracy theorists have taken up calls for hand counting in recent years, experts warn itâs a bad idea and research has found machine counts to be more accurate than hand counting, which can introduce human error.

Voting rights groups in New Hampshire are opposing efforts to ban voting machines, which they said would detract from the safety and efficiency of elections and place a burden on local election officials.

âWe know that the equipment is trustworthy,â said McKenzie St. Germain, campaign director at the New Hampshire Voting Rights Campaign. She said previous efforts to ban voting machines at town meetings began after the 2020 election, although they have been unsuccessful in prior years.

âIf we were to remove machines from especially these larger towns, and move entirely to hand counting, we are getting rid of equipment that is accurate and trustworthy and instead moving to a process that has more room for potential error,â she said.

Itâs up to each community to decide whether to continue allowing the use of machines or to ban them and require hand counts. There are 103 towns that hand count, and 135 that use machines, according to data compiled in 2022 from the New Hampshire Voting Rights Campaign.

The New Hampshire Patriot Hub is a conservative, faith-oriented group that focuses on liberty and the constitution.

While the group said its efforts are bipartisan, on its Facebook page members share their support of Donald Trump and events including one on Jan. 6, 2024 called âJ6 – It could happen to youâ to show support for those charged and imprisoned related to the Jan. 6. 2021, attack on the Capitol.

In an April Facebook post, the group announced that Brenda Towne would lead an initiative on election integrity, an issue she took up following the 2020 election. Towne did not return a request for comment on this story.

On her LinkedIn profile, Towne lists her job as an independent director for Web Industries, a company based in Marlborough, Mass. A visit to orphanages in India reportedly inspired her to fund an orphanage, work she told Fosterâs Daily Democrat in 2017 would âhonor God,â after she grew dissatisfied with her corporate job.

One of the initiativeâs main goals, according to the groupâs website, was to remove ballot counting devices and instead create local teams that would hand count ballots. âVoting Machines must go!â a call to action on the website read. âHand count with secured paper ballots only!â

In a Jan. 26 blog post, the group laid out its strategy to recruit residents from around the state by targeting over 50 towns and aiming for each town to receive the 25 resident signatures required to add a warrant article to the town meeting ballot.

The group hoped to leverage the support of Mike Lindell â CEO of MyPillow who has prominently promoted false claims the 2020 election was stolen â to energize New Hampshire voters and get the word out.

The group also put forward the language that now appears on many of the townâs warrant articles: ââAll voting shall be hand counted only, rather than by use of optical scanning or any other types of programmable electronic counting devices.ââ

It goes on to state that, if approved, towns will immediately stop using all electronic voting machines.

âEnjoy this moment because I truly believe we are making history,â Towne said during an online March 7 training. âImagine if weâre successful in New Hampshire and we start rolling these towns to hand count towns and removing the machines. It is truly the shot heard around the world.â

She directed people to removethemachinesnh.com, another website promoting a ban on machine counting devices.

The Globe verified that in at least 22 towns, petition efforts successfully gathered the 25 signatures of local residents required to put language proposing a ban on the town meeting agenda. The warrant articles require a simple majority in order to pass, although in several towns, including Campton, Sandown, and Newington, among others, the selectmen registered their opposition to the effort.

Walpole is among the 22 towns where residents will vote on whether to ban voting machines. The town has been using AccuVote machines since 2014, according to town officials.

Meghan Hansson, the town clerk, said the effort to ban voting machines came as a surprise.

âThis is just totally new,â she said. âWe had no idea the petition warrant was going to be submitted until the day before (the deadline).â

She said there have never been any issues using the voting machines, and complaints havenât been brought to her attention. Without them, Hansson said she foresees issues related to human error and she said it could be hard to recruit enough people to help hand count.

The town has budgeted money to purchase a new machine, as the AccuVote machines approach the end of their useful life, according to Hansson. As the state begins transitioning to new machines, the company that services AccuVote machines, LHS Associates, has warned it cannot guarantee the machines will work through 2024, as there are limited available parts. That purchase will now have to wait until after the town decides if it is banning voting machines or not, according to Hansson.

Sarah Downing, Walpoleâs town administrator, said she verified that all those who signed the petition were Walpole residents.

Here are the towns the Globe has confirmed are considering a ban on voting machines. While many towns hold voting on March 12 for town meeting day, other votes, like petitioned articles, are often held on second date, listed below.

March 12

1. Fitzwilliam, article 29 2. Lincoln, article 31 3. Milan, article 9 (The selectmanâs office confirmed the town will vote on a possible ban. No link is included because the town does not put its warrant online.) 4. Sandown, article 19 5. Woodstock, article 24

March 13

6. Brookline, article 29 7. Campton, article 8 8. Meredith, article 20 9. Newbury, article 11 10. Tamworth, article 35 11. Ossipee, article 40 12. Plymouth, article 10

March 16

13. Brentwood, article 13 14. Bristol article 9 15. Hollis, article 17 16. Loudon, article 20 17. Newington, article 15 18. Strafford, article 33 19. Stratham, article 15 20. Walpole, article 12 21. Madison, article 28

March 21

22. Hopkinton/Contoocook, article 14

Amanda Gokee can be reached at amanda.gokee@globe.com. Follow her @amanda_gokee.

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New Hampshire

N.H. woman accused of civil rights violation after allegedly shooting at lost man because he was Black

Published

6 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

N.H. woman accused of civil rights violation after allegedly shooting at lost man because he was Black

Local News

Diane Durgin, 67, is accused of shooting at a Black man who inadvertently drove to her property after a prearranged truck part sale, prosecutors said.

A New Hampshire woman is accused of violating the state’s Civil Rights Act four times after she allegedly shot at a man because he was Black, prosecutors said.

Diane Durgin, 67, of Weare, N.H. could face up to a $5,000 fine for each violation she is found to have committed, the office of New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said in a press release Tuesday.

Durgin is also charged with criminal threatening against a person with a deadly weapon and attempted first degree assault with a deadly weapon, Michael Garrity, a media representative for the New Hampshire Attorney General, said in an emailed statement to Boston.com.

Durgin had a final pre-trial conference last week, Garrity said.

In a civil complaint filed Tuesday, Durgin is accused of threatening physical force against the victim, the AG said. Prosecutors asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction barring Durgin from repeating her alleged behavior and from contacting the victim and his family.

During the morning hours of Oct. 20, 2024, the victim claims, he “mistakenly” drove to Durgin’s home after a prearranged purchase of a truck part with a seller online, prosecutors wrote as part of their request for an injunction.

When the man — whom prosecutors identified in court documents as X.G. — arrived, Durgin allegedly stepped out of her home and approached his car with a gun “holstered by her waist,” prosecutors wrote.

Upon noticing that X.G. was Black, Durgin allegedly “removed her gun and pointed it at X.G.,” prosecutors said in the injunction request.

While X.G. explained that he was lost, Durgin called the victim a “Black mother[expletive],” and threatened to “kill him,” prosecutors allege.

As the victim attempted to drive away, Durgin allegedly took her gun and fired two shots at the fleeing man’s car, missing both times, the AG’s office said.

While on the phone with a dispatcher, Durgin allegedly said she shot the man’s car because the victim is Black, the AG said.

“The guy is Black. And he, he…he says he’s meeting someone here and I think he’s coming here to steal,” Durgin allegedly said.

Police located X.G. and brought him to the Weare Police Department, stopping along the way at the correct seller’s home to complete the truck part purchase, prosecutors wrote in court documents.

To prove a violation of the New Hampshire Civil Rights Act, the AG must show that Durgin “interfered or attempted to interfere with the rights of the victim to engage in lawful activities by threatening to engage in or actually engage in physical force or violence, when such actual or threatening conduct was motivated by race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or disability,” prosecutors said.

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New Hampshire

Up to 4 inches of snow expected in NH tonight. See latest forecast

Published

18 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Up to 4 inches of snow expected in NH tonight. See latest forecast

It may be March, but winter in New Hampshire is far from over. Just one week after a blizzard tore through the state with heavy snow and high winds, the state is getting another round of snowfall.

The state will get three to five inches during the evening and night of Tuesday, March 3, says the National Weather Service (NWS) of Gray, Maine. While the accumulation will not be significant, the snowfall may cause dangerous road conditions and a layer of ice on the ground in certain parts of the state.

Here’s what to know before tonight’s snow in New Hampshire, including snow totals and timing.

When will it snow in NH tonight?

According to the NWS, it will start snowing in New Hampshire during mid-afternoon or early evening and continue through the night. Specifically, snow will arrive to the southern part of the state around 2-3 p.m., spreading northwards through the rest of New Hampshire by 5 p.m.

Rain or freezing rain will mix in later this evening across southern New Hampshire, creating a wintry mix. All precipitation should move out of the state by midnight.

Due to the timing of today’s snowfall, the Tuesday evening commute will be affected, with the NWS warning to slow down and exercise caution while driving.

How much snow will NH get tonight?

New Hampshire will get one to four inches of snow tonight, with one to two inches in northern New Hampshire, two to three inches in southern New Hampshire and three to four inches in the center of the state, with the possibility for five inches in localized areas.

In the Seacoast specifically, Portsmouth, Rye, Hampton and York are expected to get between two to three inches of snow, while Dover, Exeter and Rochester may get up to four.

The wintry mix may also cause a light glaze of ice across southern New Hampshire.

NH weather watches and warnings

The NWS has issued a winter weather advisory for the state of New Hampshire, in effect from 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3 through 4 a.m. on Wednesday, March 4.