InDepthNH.org (https://indepthnh.org/series/distant-dome/)
Garry Rayno
The number of registered voters is considerably smaller than it was after the 2020 general election because checklists were purged — as they are required to do at least once every 10 years — before this election.
In the Executive Council, state Senate and state House races, Democratic candidates received more votes than their Republican counterparts, but will still be in the minority.
The landline phone will stop ringing every half hour, the canvassers will stop knocking, the town halls will be empty, no downtown walks, the despicable ads lying and demonizing candidates will disappear for a while, and the reputations of many candidates will never recover.
These days the air is polluted before the candidate’s official announcements he or she is running.
From abortions to drinking water standards, there is something for everyone to vote for or against.
When I “retired” from covering the State House six years ago, a young reporter asked me what had been the biggest change since 1990 when I first was there.
Although many political leaders from the president to the governor want the perception to be that daily life is approaching what it was before the pandemic began, their actions say something else.
But there is a darker side to this period as well as campaigns and their brain trusts will do anything to bring their candidate over the finish line first.
Figures released after the state primary election by the Secretary of State’s Office indicate that almost one-quarter of a million voters have been removed from checklists across the state since the 2020 general election.
With Veto Day two days after the state primary election, a number of lawmakers attending Thursday’s final session of the 2021-2022 term will not be back for many reasons, including being voted out in primary.