AG Investigates Election Worker Assault In Somersworth Ward 3; 300 Hotline Inquiries

Exactly 300 hotline and e-mail inquiries between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.

Notable Election Day Issues:
We received a report that a male assaulted an election worker at the Somersworth Ward 3 Location, which is at the High School and that Somersworth Police was dispatched to the location. Our office will be investigating the incident.

Some of the larger towns and city wards experienced long lines to check in, parking issues, or traffic issues. In each case, the Attorney General’s Office worked with local election officials, local law enforcement, and the Secretary of State’s Office to do everything possible to alleviate the lines, parking, and traffic issues.

The Town of Gorham and the City of Rochester, Ward 5 had isolated road closures, which caused delays for some voters heading to the polls. Local law enforcement responded and began rerouting traffic to appropriate detours. The Election Law Unit’s understanding is that the City of Rochester will be seeking court approval based on this road closure to count certain ballots received after the close of polls in Ward 5. The City of Rochester is following the process set forth in RSA 659:26-a for segregating and marking all ballots received during the limited extended hours period for which they seek court approval. See RSA 659:26-a (“In any federal election where hours of polling are extended by a federal or state court order or other order, the moderator or his or her designee shall mark all ballots cast during the extended hours of polling “EH.” These extended hours ballots shall be counted in the usual manner but shall be separated and held apart from other ballots when stored.”).