The state’s Ballot Law Commission denied a petition request from Dover resident David Scott to purge the voter checklists in four of the city’s six wards and require voters to re-register in person.
Scott filed the petition in December 2014. A former city councilor and a poll observer in Ward 3, Scott said he noticed “so many people (voting in) my ward who I hadn’t seen before.” In December, he sent out first-class letters to 1,000 people who registered at polling places in Wards 1-4 in the most recent election. Of those letters, 70 came back as undeliverable; Scott said he tried again and 40 of the 70 letters couldn’t be delivered.
“That indicated to me there’s a problem. Are these people qualified voters in New Hampshire?” he told the five-member commission.
Scott, a Republican activist, asked the commission to grant his petition so that the city would be compelled to verify the checklist in those wards. State law requires communities verify checklists every 10 years.
“We have such an important election coming up in 2016, and we want to make sure” voters are voting legally, Scott said. “There are many people voting who don’t represent people in that community.”
Ed Naile, chair of the Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers, testified in support of Scott. Naile said the state’s voting laws are “antiquated” and “have not caught up” with same-day voter registration, which leaves the state open to voter fraud.
Dover city attorney Anthony Blenkinsop argued on behalf of the city, and city clerk Karen Lavertu detailed how the city maintains its checklist. Granting Scott’s petition would have required the approximately 15,000 voters registered in the four wards to re-register at city hall or be removed from the checklist.
According to Lavertu, there are many legitimate reasons why a letter might be marked as undeliverable even if it was sent to a qualified voter.
“Dover adheres to the statute,” Blenkinsop said. “(Scott) doesn’t like New Hampshire’s same-day voter registration … but there’s nothing the city can do to remedy that.”
About 60 people attended the two-and-a-half-hour hearing in the Dover City Hall auditorium, and during a public comment session, a number of city residents spoke against the petition.
Wendy Alley said Scott’s petition was an example of voter caging — a process in which organizations or individuals send first-class mail to registered voters and, if the mail is returned, use that to challenge the checklist. “This is one of many tactics to disenfranchise voters,” she said. “Mr. Scott’s claim and method is a textbook case of voter caging.”
State Rep. Jim Verschueren (D-Dover) said Scott’s petition was a partisan effort. “Mr. Scott is a self-proclaimed Republican activist, and Wards 5 and 6 are the only wards that elect Republicans, and those are the wards that are not challenged,” he said. Naile said Scott chose Wards 1-4 because they had a high percentage of same-day registrants.
Later, former city councilor Jan Nedalka pointed out that, as the meeting started, Scott asked Republican state Rep. Catherine Cheney, who represents Wards 5 and 6 in Concord, to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.
“This is a highly partisan process,” Nedalka said.
After about 10 minutes of deliberation, the commission voted unanimously to deny the petition. Scott said he plans to share his evidence with the city and hopes legislators will change voting laws to require a checklist purge after every presidential election.
At top of page: David Scott speaks about his petition to purge the voter checklist in four of Dover’s six wards during a recent hearing. (photo by Larry Clow)