N.H. hosts public vote-counting demonstration to combat disinformation

CONCORD, N.H. — Election authorities are facing an unprecedented avalanche of conspiracy theories about how they operate. So when New Hampshire decided to get new ballot-counting machines, making the process as open to the public as possible was a no-brainer.

New Hampshire’s secretary of state office hosted a public demonstration of new potential electronic ballot-counting devices Wednesday, gathering feedback before deciding which machine the state will use in the next election. Secretary of State David Scanlan told NBC News he wants to be “as transparent as possible about our elections” and use moments like this to educate the public about how elections are really run.

The secretary’s office and the state’s Ballot Law Commission are looking to replace the “aging” AccuVote ballot-counting devices that have long been used during New Hampshire elections.

The machines are about 30 years old, meaning each system is “reaching the end of its functional life,” Scanlan said. There is a desire among local election officials, voters and legislators to move towards something that is more “up to date.”

“The goal here is to bring vendors that are interested in providing a ballot counting device to New Hampshire together so that the machines can be viewed together, compared and the pros and cons discussed,” Scanlan told NBC News. “Based on that information and the input from the different constituencies that use these devices, will hopefully provide helpful information to the Ballot Law Commission to help them assess and then make a decision.”

The event comes as Republican voters and officials in some areas, including New Hampshire, try to move away from machine-counting ballots, amid the spread of conspiracy theories about their reliability. But studies have shown electronic ballot counters are not only less expensive but more accurate than counting by hand.

Close to 300 people attended New Hampshire’s machine test event, including legislators, election officials and members of the public. They got to test electronic ballot-counting devices produced by three vendors: Dominion Voting Systems, Election Systems & Software, and VotingWorks.

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Over the course of three hours, attendees were separated into breakout rooms where each vendor demonstrated features of their electronic ballot-counting devices. They also discussed how to handle different situations that can arise on election day such as paper jams.

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Attendees were given scorecards to rank the devices based on criteria including how easy the machines were to use and whether the device preserved their privacy. The secretary of state’s office will compile the feedback and present it to the Ballot Law Commission, which is expected to meet in September.

In New Hampshire, the decision to use a ballot-counting device is made at the local level. If a town or city decides they want to use them, they are the ones responsible for purchasing them. The contractual agreement is between the municipality and the vendor.

Chris Goodnow, an election moderator for 24 years, attended the demonstration. He says he is an advocate for “everybody being curious.”

“Nobody is hiding anything. It’s a very, very open process,” Goodnow told NBC News. “The accuracy of our elections is unbelievable.”