Gardner Forms Advisory Panel on Use of $3.2M CARES Act Funding

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Nancy West file photo

Secretary of State Bill Gardner showcases the oldest desk in the State House, which is located in the Senate chamber, as UNH Law School Professor Emeritus Richard Hesse looks on on Jan. 22, 2019.

Secretary of State Bill Gardner announced the formation of a six-member advisory committee that will advise the Department of State on the use of $3.2 million in federal CARES Act money, received by the state last week.

These funds are dedicated to dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020 election cycle. Specifically, this money will help cover additional costs incurred at the local level for the handling and processing of absentee ballots over and above the number of those cast four years ago, and protecting the health and safety of voters and poll workers.

Members of the advisory committee are as follows:

Bradford E. Cook, ChairChairman, Ballot Law Commission.  He has served multiple terms on the Ballot Law Commission beginning in the 1980s.  He was first appointed by the Governor and Executive Council and over the years by Republican and Democratic Speakers of the House.  
Barbara J. GriffinState Representative from Goffstown; current member and former chair of House Election Law Committee.  
Katherine M. HannaFormer Legal Counsel to Governor John Lynch; involved in many election legal matters and former State Representative from Keene.  
Kathy L. SeaverFarmington Town Clerk for 41 years; past President, New Hampshire City and Town Clerks Association 2008-2009.  
Tom Sherman, MDState Senator from the Seacoast, State Senate District 24, resident of Rye.  He is Vice Chair of the Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee, and a former two-term member of the New Hampshire House.  
Eugene Van Loan IIIAlternate member, state Ballot Law Commission.  He is former Moderator of the Town of Bedford, and served as Legal Counsel to Congressman Louis C. Wyman during the closest U.S. Senate election in American history (two votes) 1974-1975.

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