Random Thoughts

[president]

It was less than 400 votes, and they did count them. Someone just didn't like the number they counted.

If John Babiarz is suing the town, I guess that means he is suing me, and himself.

Were you there at the recount?

The Selectmen went to court today.
Did you go Lex?

[Lex]

It was less than 400 votes, and they did count them. Someone just didn't like the number they counted.

If John Babiarz is suing the town, I guess that means he is suing me, and himself.

Were you there at the recount?

The Selectmen went to court today.
Did you go Lex?

Did you?

[president]

No.
Will you answer my question now?

It almost seems like you have been instructed to stay off the internet, or not talk about certain things 

I'm not gunna format this, so it's gunna be ugly:

Recount

There has been much speculation, innuendos, and rumors in Town along with misinformation printed in the local newspapers regarding the recent election recount.  The normal process for voting is as follows:  voters approach the Ballot Clerks (usually 4 registered voters from the Town) and state their name and address; the Ballot Clerks then check the voter off as having voted and hands them their ballots.  New residents and/or young people becoming of age to vote are registered and encouraged to vote on Election Day.  Once registered the Supervisors of the Checklist ask the Ballot Clerks to include the voter?s name on the checklist enabling them to vote that day.  Name changes and address changes are also given to the Ballot Clerks by the Supervisors in order to update the checklist.  The voter proceeds and fills out ballot(s).  Once the voter casts their votes they proceed on to the voting machine(s) and insert their ballots into the appropriate machine(s).  At approximately 1 p.m. the Absentee Ballots are delivered to the Moderator by the Town Clerk and the Moderator inserts these ballots.  As the ballots are inserted into the machine(s) they are counted.  At the end of the night the machine should balance with the number of checked off voters that the Ballot Clerks have tracked throughout the day.  The machine has 3 compartments in the base.  There is a compartment for the ballots which are read entirely by the machine, a compartment for ballots that contain any write-in votes and a compartment for ballots the machine rejects altogether.  The machine sorts the ballots for all but the last mentioned type of ballot by guiding the ballot into one of the slots and actually counts the votes as they go through the machine.   As many voters can attest throughout the day some ballots are not easily accepted by the machine(s), whether it is the humidity in the air, the paper composition or the fact that voters are sometimes intimidated by the machine and they may hold on to it too long causing it to jam or wrinkle, and then the ballot has to be reinserted.  Usually after 4 or 5 tries the Moderator will ask the voter to insert the ballot into the ?rejected? bin to cause less frustration or as to not hold up voters.  At the close of the polls the Moderator typically tries one last time to insert the ballots that were in the ?rejected? bin and then prints the results that the machine has calculated throughout the day.   Any ballots which were dumped into the 2nd bin are pulled out and given to the counters to hand count and tally.  (The machine actually counts the vote, but the hand counters must identify who the vote was cast for.)  Once this is done the number of hand counted ballots are added to the machine totals and the results are announced by the Moderator.   On March 14th the Town held its annual elections.  The day proceeded much like most election days with two minor differences.  Signs had been placed on each of the machines asking voters to insert only the white ballots (Town) in one machine and the yellow ballots (school) into the other machine.  The Moderator or her ?stand-in?, while away from the table, instructed voters the same, yet some voters inserted the school ballot into the Town machine.  The ballots were not rejected, but fed through into the read bin and had to be removed and put into the correct machine.  (At the recount the representatives from the company providing voting machines (LHS) noted that although accepted through the machine, the machine did not count the votes or affect the count).  The other difference noted was that on quite a few occasions ballots actually got caught within the machine, not dumping the ballot into either slot.   The Moderator had never experienced this problem before.  When a ballot is rejected there is a message that instructs the voter or person attending the machine on what to do with the ballot.  The message given on these occasions read, ?place in front slot? and the ballots were placed in the ?rejected? front slot.  LHS has since educated the election officials that the ?front slot? the machine identified was a slot labeled ?front? in the base of the machine, which is not accessible without actually removing the machine from the base.  These ballots were counted and counted a second time at the end of the night when fed through the machine.  The representatives from LHS noted that it appeared that the ballots affected were ballots with write-ins and stated that the machine Grafton owns is an older model and that the feeder wheels were probably not working properly, causing many more ballots to misfeed. 

At the close of the polls the Ballot Clerks reported to the Moderator a count of 369 voters casting ballots, which agreed with the school voting machine but not the Town machine.  This number was confirmed by all of the Ballot Clerks.   The ballots were secured in a box and sealed by the Town Clerk and Jennie Joyce, Selectman.  The Moderator noted after the results were announced and everyone was gone that the numbers of votes cast did not equal the number of voters.  She contacted Steve Darrow, Chairman of the Board, on Wednesday morning to inform him.  The State of New Hampshire Attorney General?s Office was notified and they secured the ballots that day in order to investigate the problem.  It was decided, by their office along with the Secretary of State?s Office, that it would be best to hold a local recount, where the ballots would be recounted by hand.  They also wanted to put the ballots back through the machine used on election night in hopes of identifying the problem, if any, with the machine.  Bud Fitch, Deputy Attorney General, was in constant contact with the Town Clerk and the Moderator throughout the process, directed them both in the necessary steps.  On March 25th the Deputy Secretary of State, David Scanlan, Deputy Attorney General, Bud Fitch and 2 representatives from LHS came to assist and direct the recount.  The ballots were fed through the same machine used election day, through a second machine brought by LHS and then hand counted by people.  It was the intent at the beginning of the day to recount all ballots but due to time constraints and the obvious outcomes (such as positions that were uncontested) it was decided and agreed by those present only to recount certain positions and articles.  The actual numbers changed in many of the elected offices and articles, but there was only 1 outcome that actually changed; that of the 3-year position on the Planning Board. 

The assistance Bud Fitch and David Scanlan gave was invaluable.  Mr. Fitch set up a computer spreadsheet and the ballots were recounted.  As the results were tabulated they were entered into the spreadsheet.  Mr. Scanlan assisted in disseminating the ballots and the tabulation.  The process, although time consuming, was handled efficiently and everything was verified many times.  The 2 representatives from LHS were very helpful and experienced with the machines and the problems that could/did occur during the recount process.  The voters of Grafton who hand counted the ballots worked in teams of 4 and did an excellent job.

It is unfortunate that this problem occurred and that this recount took place but many things were learned and experience gained with the process.                 Bonnie J. Haubrich

Election Results
369 Votes cast:
Selectman  (3 years)              Stephen ?Steve? Darrow   297            
Treasurer (1 year)              June Burrington      316
Moderator ( 2 years)             Bonnie J. Haubrich      219
                                                 John Babiarz (write-in)      124   
Budget Committee (3 years)          Catherine Mulholland      179
                                                  Genevieve Smith      152
Library Trustee (3 years)          Dorothy Campbell      322   
Supervisor of the Checklist (6 years)       Mary Warren         312
Cemetery Trustee (3 years)          Louise Gallup         329   
Trustee of Trust Funds (3 years)       Catherine Mulholland      226
Planning Board (1 year)           Brian Fellers         165
                       Neil Kenny         100
                       Maureen O?Reilly        59   
Planning Board (3 years)          Bradford Grange      104
     (2 members)                    Catherine Mulholland      139
                        David Rienzo         233
                        Lloyd Sam Vose      133   
Auditor (2 years)             Pamela Curran         283      
Auditor (1 year)             Margaret (Peg) Emslie      245

2.     Operating budget in the amount of $799,202                Passed  (234-114)   
3.   Paving project - $100,000.                      Passed  (233-123)
4.   Capital Reserve ? Fire Apparatus - $30,000                    Passed  (242-117)
5.   New police cruiser - $32,000                       Passed  (186-171)
6.   Capital Reserve ? Police Vehicle - $7,000       (Void as Article #5 passed)
7.   Capital Reserve ? Ambulance - $20,000                  Passed  (249-103)
8.   Highway department truck - $92,712                   Failed  (169-187)
9.   Capital Reserve ? Highway Equipment                   Passed  (209-137)
10.   Statistical Property Reappraisal - $20,850                   Passed  (196-153)
11.   Capital Reserve ? Bridge Replacement Fund - $30,000            Passed  (208-141)
12.   Town Clerk Raise - $500.                        Passed  (244-106)
13.   Veterans? Tax Credit ? increase the present credit of $100 to $500.           Passed  (276-  80)
14.   Service Connected Disability ? increase the present credit from $1,400 to $2,000.     Passed  (253-  99)
15.   Utility Room Construction ? Fire Station - $3,500.                 Passed  (197-153)
16.   Audit the Town Records - $25,000                     Passed  (219-131)
17.   Mascoma Home Health Initiative - $853                  Passed  (209-143)
18.   Capital Reserve ? Library Improvements - $2,500               Passed  (237-115)
19.   Capital Reserve ? Veterans Memorial Park - $1,000               Passed  (211-140)
20.   Capital Reserve ? Records Storage Vault - $2,000               Passed  (214-138)
21.   Capital Reserve ? Town Hall Repairs  - $3,000               Passed  (208-144)
22.   Compactor ? Recycling Center - $25,000                  Failed   (178-178)
23.   Full-time police officer - $33,150                     Failed  (138-217)
24.   Road Agent?s position ? return to elected position versus appointed by Selectmen.    Passed  (207-146)
25.   Retaining (keeping) the Budget Committee.                 Passed  (233-104)
26.   Continue Johnson Lane as it is presently (a town road).             Failed   (148-171)
27.   Accept the Recreation Field access road as a class V road.              Failed   (145-200)
28.   Grafton United Nations Free Zone Act.  (By petition.)               Failed   (147-199)
29.   Suggest:  1)  change Road Agent compensation to hourly pay versus salary ($20/hour with overtime)
2)create a mechanic?s position at the rate of $16/hour, dedicated to servicing the town equipment and 3)
collect usage data on town roads  (By petition.)               Failed   (174-174)
30.   Eliminate the 2 town auditor positions.  This article would be null and void if Article #16 fails.
                                 Failed   (149-187)

[Lex]

Sorry that I don't keep you entertained as much as I used to but now that I'm in NH i'm trying to do things, go to events, etc. I also have a part time job now in addition to my full time job and I also volunteer at the Grafton fire department so my time online is limited. And I have a daughter who needs me.

Besides, you already know everything, what do you need me for?

[Dreepa]

so my time online is limited

Plus you are on dial up

[Lex]

I have dialup and WildBlue satellite. I use both at the same time :-)

[president]

Besides, you already know everything, what do you need me for?

Fine, don't answer any questions, and just ask more.

[president]

so my time online is limited

Plus you are on dial up

I've got my theory......the same basic thing happend with seth, mike lorrey, tim condon...where did they go???

[president]

Sorry that I don't keep you entertained as much as I used to but now that I'm in NH i'm trying to do things, go to events, etc. I also have a part time job now in addition to my full time job and I also volunteer at the Grafton fire department so my time online is limited. And I have a daughter who needs me.

Nice excuses. I asked a fucking yes or no question. It would have been faster to answer it, asshole.

But you have time to post questions for me?

I smell pussy.
Is that you Lex?

[Pat McCotter]

President button pusher.

[president]

I also volunteer at the Grafton fire department

Does that mean you let the town do a background check on you?

I got an application a couple years ago, and I didn't want to give the OK for the background check, so I never turned it in......

In other news

John J. Babiarz vs Town of Grafton Decision
?The court finds that Mr. Babiarz does not have a sufficient interest in
the outcome of the vote recount such that he has standing to file a
petition pursuant to RSA 669:35.  Mr. Babiarz was not a candidate for
planning board election and subsequently, the injury is not greater than
any other citizen whose preferred candidate lost the vote.  Similarly,
with respect to Warrant Article #22 Mr. Babiarz?s injury is no greater
than any other citizen who voted in favor of appropriating the money for
the compactor.  Accordingly, the Town?s motion to dismiss is GRANTED.
The petition for declaratory judgment is DISMISSED.?*

*From the written decision by Jean Burling, Presiding Justice, dated May
25, 2006.

Babiarz vs Town of Grafton:
One has to ask if Mr. Babiarz?s action
against the Town was brought forth due to Mr. Babiarz?s failure to win
his write-in campaign against the Moderator, his Libertarian beliefs, or
his alignment with Mr. Vose?   Errors were made at this election by many
of the election officials, none of which were malicious, dishonest,
fraudulent or intentional.   There were lessons learned which hopefully,
in the future, will make us better in our elected positions.  It is
unfortunate that Mr. Babiarz chose to challenge the recount thus costing
taxpayers Town attorney fees. 
Bonnie J. Haubrich, Moderator

[Lex]

I also volunteer at the Grafton fire department

Does that mean you let the town do a background check on you?

Yes.