By james art DURHAM — A Durham man has requested the new voter registration form and affidavit from 136 people in the city to make sure they qualify to vote.
Real estate broker Jeffrey Berlin has repeatedly sent requests under the New Hampshire Right to Information Act to the Durham Town Clerk’s office for new voter registration forms and affidavits “for the sole purpose of determining the accuracy of the voter’s qualified affidavit “.
He also requested “all new voter registration forms/statements” in Durham during the 2024 calendar year by the end of the Nov. 5, 2024 election, a request that was denied by the New Hampshire attorney general’s office. He then began asking for the information on individual voters.
Such claims, seen nationwide as spurious theories that noncitizens vote in large numbers, have mobilized Republican activists to check voter rolls, even though election officials already carefully maintain voter rolls. New tools have emerged to challenge voter registrations, and on a recent episode of “Last Week Tonight,” host John Oliver explained how a woman in Georgia sent out thousands of voter challenges.
“I think on the Republican side, they’re keeping a close eye on who’s registering to make sure the people who are registering to vote are actually qualified to vote, which is a theme we’ve seen in previous cycles,” Durham City Administrator said. Todd Selig. He said it’s an “extremely busy time” at the city clerk’s office, but part of their job is to answer questions people raise.
This reflects the high tension approaching the presidential election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan said voters “must be confident that voters on the checklist are citizens of the United States.”
Although he said there were some isolated cases where a person was registered by mistake using their green card, those cases were caught and those people were removed from the electoral roll.
Berlin said it had “no comment at this time.” when contacted by email about his requests for information on voters in Durham.
City officials in Stratham, Rochester and Exeter said they had not received such requests.
Voter Challenges at the Polling Station
Voter challenges, or when someone questions a voter’s right to vote, are permitted by polling place law.
Individuals can challenge a specific voter for a specific reason by notifying a moderator and filling out a form. It is then up to the moderator to decide if this is a valid challenge.
“At the end of the day, if a voter is willing to sign a voter affidavit, they will receive a ballot. It can be noted by the moderator on the back, the challenged voter’s number and then a sequential order, after which that voter will be allowed to continue voting,” Scanlan said.
Selig said there are usually challenges in elections, but they are not handled by his office.
“In reality, we have very few challenges, but there are people watching,” he added.
Rochester Clerk Kelly Walters said there were several challenges in the last election, but ultimately all ballots were accepted. She does not expect anything out of the ordinary in this election.
Tensions are high, but expectations of conflict are low
Selig and other Seacoast city officials don’t expect conflict at the polls this election, but said they are prepared.
Exeter City Moderator Kate Miller said police officers will be present in Exeter to make sure they can help cool things down if things get too hot. However, she said, Exeter voters are generally “super well behaved” and she doesn’t expect any problems.
Police officers will also be on site in Durham, Selig said, as they are at every election. They will look at any problem that may arise: usually the biggest problems stem from traffic.
Selig said the Durham Police Department is also watching for any signs of election-related violence, and so far they haven’t seen any.
Scanlon said the Secretary of State’s office takes polling place security “very, very seriously.” They encouraged all local election officials to have a police officer at the polls, and the attorney general’s office will have dozens of representatives in the field.
Coastal towns are preparing for a busy election day
In Durham, Stratham and Rochester, authorities are seeing higher-than-usual requests for absentee ballots, suggesting overall voter turnout will follow suit.
In 2016, 770 absentee ballots were cast in Durham. This year, the clerk’s office has already given out more than 1,000, according to Selig.
Local officials’ projections are in line with Scanlan, who predicted record turnout in New Hampshire.
Local authorities are also expecting a large number of registered voters on the same day. Durham typically sees about 3,000 registrations on a single day in the general election, driven mostly by University of New Hampshire students. This year, Selig said they expect 4,000 because of the high interest in the election. Durham Checklist Managers are holding voter registration sessions at City Hall and on the UNH campus to register students and residents.
While cities are doing their best to register as many people as possible early, city officials say there could still be lines to register to vote on Election Day. But they emphasized that they are doing everything they can to make the process smoother and faster.
Voters may also have to wait in line to cast their ballots, but the secretary of state has ordered polls to last no less than 30 minutes.
City officials on Election Day: ‘Give it’
Local election officials are working hard to prepare for the election. Selig and Miller said Durham and Exeter have tested the voting machines and that the machines are ready to go.
“Go ahead, that’s what I’m saying,” Selig said.
Stratham Town Clerk Deb Buckey said she and her office have conducted numerous training sessions with the secretary of state.
“My team and I are confident that we will go through these elections with impeccable results,” Baki said.
Officials encouraged everyone to come out and vote.
“We hope to see you,” Miller said. “Come early!”