New Hampshire

Election 2024: Here’s how votes are counted in New Hampshire

Published

1 year ago

October 28, 2024

Election 2024: Here’s how votes are counted in New Hampshire

CONCORD — On Tuesday, Nov. 5, votes cast in the presidential election in New Hampshire will be counted by voting machines, election officials and volunteers.

Read on to learn more about how votes are counted in New Hampshire, with information from the secretary of state.

How are votes counted in New Hampshire?

In New Hampshire, communities can choose to use machine counting of ballots or count by hand. Most use machine counting because it’s faster and more accurate. One hundred ten towns/cities and 67 wards, including most Seacoast communities like Exeter, Hampton, and Portsmouth, use AccuVote ballot counting devices. Fifteen towns/cities and six wards use VotingWorks ballot counting devices. On the Seacoast, Rochester uses both types of machines. Ballot counting devices count all properly marked races (meaning the oval is filled in) except for write-in votes.

However, 122 towns in New Hampshire, including the Seacoast towns of New Castle and South Hampton, haven’t switched to machines and still hand count their ballots.

Not all votes can be counted by machines: Write-in votes and ballots where the voter has marked their choice in a different way than filling in the oval, such as circling their chosen candidate’s name, require hand counting. In these situations, the town’s election moderator, who is chosen every two years by vote, makes the decision for how these ballots will be hand counted.

Seacoast NH election 2024 voter guide: Read about candidates, poll times, how to register

No matter how the ballots are counted, however, all votes are cast on paper ballots. None of the machines can connect to the internet.

How are votes hand counted in New Hampshire?

The most common, most accurate, and easiest method of hand counting is the “sort-and-stack” method. In this method, ballots are sorted into piles: one for each candidate, ballots with more than one choice marked, ballots with skipped choices, write-ins, and judgment calls. Then, counters and observers look through each pile, making sure they are only looking at one candidate or question on the ballot at the time. Each ballot is then checked three times and when the counters have agreed on the number of votes for each candidate, they enter it on the tally sheet.

Another hand counting methods is the “read-and-mark” method, in which counting teams count all races and questions in one pile of 50 ballots at a time, marking a tally sheet as they go.

More details on these hand counting methods can be found in the Counting and Recounts section in the 2022-23 New Hampshire Election Procedure Manual.

How are absentee ballots processed and counted?

Election officials can start processing absentee ballots at 1:00 pm on election day, or a different time no earlier than two hours after the polls open if properly posted 24 hours in advance.

Election officials process absentee ballots at the polls. To do so, they take ballots and affidavits out of their envelopes and check the name against the voter checklist to make sure they are registered and had not already voted in person. The ballots are then removed from the envelop and cast into the ballot counting device or ballot box. They are counted along with the rest of the ballots after the polls close.

What happens in a recount?

There are no automatic recounts required in New Hampshire, and election officers are directed to try to avoid errors that would call for a recount. However, a candidate can request a recount if the difference between the votes cast for the requesting candidate and the candidate declared elected is less than 20% of the total votes cast.

If a recount request is approved, the ballots from election night will be counted by the secretary of state’s team, one Democratic volunteer counter, and one Republican volunteer counter. They will recount by hand and each ballot will be looked at under a camera, by ballot challengers, and by observers.

State officials say the recount process is intended to be open and transparent. Anyone who is interested in seeing the process is allowed to attend the recount.

When will all the votes be counted?

The results tallying process takes place in the polls immediately after they close. A continuous process, the moderator will publicly announce the results after they have been tallied and reconciled. Any member of the public can observe this process.

Secretary of State David Scanlan expects polling places to announce results the night of the election or into the early hours of the following morning.

However, it’s possible the national result of the presidential election will not be announced on election night. Polls show the election between Harris and Trump to be very tight, and, in some states, counting the votes and certifying the results can take days, or even weeks.

Source link

Click to comment

New Hampshire

Follow-Up: Felon Fugitives Found In New Hampshire, According To Corrections Department

Published

3 hours ago

March 20, 2026

Press Room

Follow-Up: Felon Fugitives Found In New Hampshire, According To Corrections Department

CONCORD, NH — Two New Hampshire Department of Corrections fugitives of the week have been caught and are being held in jail, according to officials.

Adam Charles Cummings, 47, was featured in July 2025, accused of a probation violation for noncompliance in June 2022. According to corrections, on March 12, Campton police had information that he was en route to the Campton-Thornton area.

“Both the Campton Police Department and the Thornton Police Department coordinated a traffic stop. Cummings was taken into custody without incident,” corrections said, “and a firearm was in the glove box, directly in front of the passenger seat where he was sitting.”

Cummings was arrested and charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is being held at the Grafton County House of Corrections.

Leland Petersen was featured earlier this month.

According to corrections, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department received a tip from Goffstown police he was spotted walking on Mast Road on March 18. Two deputies went to Mast Road and, with help from Goffstown police, made contact with Petersen, confirmed his identity, and placed him in custody. He was taken to the county jail.

“The Department of Corrections would like to thank the Campton, Thornton, and Goffstown Police Departments,” officials said, “as well as the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance in apprehending these fugitives.”

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the New Hampshire Department of Corrections and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains how to request the removal of a name from New Hampshire Patch police reports.

According to superior court records, Petersen was charged with felony criminal mischief after an incident in Manchester in 2008. The charge was later nolle prossed.

In Manchester in October 2020, Petersen was charged with strangulation, threat, domestic violence, false imprisonment, stalking, and obstruction charges. In June 2021, he pleaded guilty to stalking-domestic violence and second-degree assault-domestic violence-strangulation charges. Petersen received a one-to-three-year and 12-month prison sentences, all suspended for five years, with $100 in fees and 29 days of time served credit. A show-cause hearing was held in February 2023, and a status conference was held in April 2023 on the fines. A court order was issued for payment of the fines later.

Petersen was accused of stalking-domestic violence in October and December 2022. He pleaded guilty to both charges in April 2023 and received two one- to three-year prison sentences — one suspended for four years and the other for five years. He was also fined $100.

Cummings’ criminal history dates back more than two decades, according to superior court records.

Cummings was accused of assault, criminal threatening, and false imprisonment in Holderness after an incident in July 2002. All three charges were remanded in May 2003, just before a jury trial was set to start.

In September 2006, Cummings was accused of being a habitual offender and disobeying an officer in Plymouth. He pleaded guilty to the charges in November 2007 and received a 12-month sentence, all but 10 days suspended for three years.

Cummings was charged with robbery out of Plymouth in April 2009, and a probation violation charge was also issued, connected to the habitual offender case. The robbery charge was dismissed a few months later, and after a probation hearing, the habitual offender sentence was amended to two and a half to five years in prison, with 480 days of pretrial credit.

Two more habitual offender charges after an incident in February 2018 in Plymouth were issued against Cummings. He was also accused of drug possession in Wentworth in May 2018, fentanyl possession and resisting arrest in Groton in November 2018, and acts prohibited in April 2019 in Plymouth. One habitual offender count was dismissed without prejudice in June 2018. Cummings then pleaded guilty to the second habitual offender charge in January 2020 and received a sentence of two and a half to five years, suspended for five years with four years of probation, along with 99 days of time served credit. He also pleaded guilty to the drug charges, receiving multiple suspended sentences.

In July 2022, Cummings was accused of possessing drugs again. He was arraigned on the charge, based out of Plymouth, in 2023. However, Cummings failed to appear at a final pretrial hearing in October 2023 and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Do you have a news tip? Email it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella’s YouTube or Rumble channels. Patch in New Hampshire is now in 217 communities — and expanding every day. Also, follow Patch on Google Discover.

Source link

New Hampshire

Thinking about a pet monkey in New Hampshire? State law says no

Published

16 hours ago

March 20, 2026

Press Room

Thinking about a pet monkey in New Hampshire? State law says no

Maybe you’ve seen the “Friends” episode where Ross adopts a pet monkey named Marcel – only to eventually give him to a zoo because he’s a wild and exotic animal.

If you’re thinking about adopting a monkey in New Hampshire, you may want to think twice: keeping one as a pet is illegal.

State laws limit which animals can be kept to protect both people and wildlife from harm, according to New Hampshire Fish and Game. Many wild animals don’t do well in homes.

And although monkeys are primates like humans, they have never been domesticated in the United States. Pet monkeys have “attacked and seriously injured their guardians as well as unsuspecting neighbors and their pets,” according to the ASPCA.

Monkeys are not native to the U.S. or Canada. They live primarily in southern Mexico, Central and South America, Africa, and southern Asia, according to the New England Primate Conservancy.

Is it legal to have a pet monkey in New Hampshire?

No, it is not legal to have a pet monkey in New Hampshire, according to New Hampshire Fish and Game. Primates, including capuchins, baboons, orangutans, chimpanzees, and gorillas, are on the state’s list of controlled species.

In 2024, state lawmakers rejected a bill that would’ve allowed residents to own “small-tailed monkeys” without a permit.

Which mammals are legal to keep as pets in NH?

Domestic animals, including dogs, cats, horses, and cows, are allowed as pets in New Hampshire. And you can actually keep some wild animals without a permit, according to New Hampshire Fish and Game regulations.

Animals are designated controlled or non-controlled based on health, environmental, ecological, or welfare risks to the public or wildlife, per New Hampshire state regulations.

Other non-controlled mammals allowed as pets in New Hampshire:

Chinchillas, domesticated (Chinchilla spp.)Gerbils, domesticatedGuinea pigs, domesticatedHamsters, domesticated (Cricetus cricetus)Mice, domesticated (Mus musculus)Rats, domesticated (Rattus norvegicus and Rattus rattus)Ferrets, domesticated (Mustela putorius furo)Llamas (Lama glama)Alpaca (Lama pacos)Pot-belly pigs, domesticatedRabbits, domesticatedAfrican pygmy hedgehogSugar glider (Petaurus breviceps)Tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus)Yak (Bos grunniens)Camel (Camelus spp.)Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)Degaus (Octodon degus)Guanaco (Lama quanicoe)Bison (Bison bison, B. bonasus)

Can I apply for a permit for a pet monkey in NH?

Even if you apply for a permit to keep a pet monkey in New Hampshire, you probably won’t receive one if you’re a private citizen.

Only those classified as exhibitors can obtain a wildlife possession permit for a monkey, and the executive director of New Hampshire Fish and Game reviews each application, according to the regulations.

A permit to possess will not be issued if the director determines any significant risk to the animal or the public.

Source link