Recounts for 16 New Hampshire House races underway

Detailed summary

In the state Senate, where Democrats gained seven seats to take a 15-9 majority, no candidates requested recounts.

After last week’s dramatic elections, 16 candidates called for recounts in their state House races.

The results saw major gains for Democrats and a radically shifted New Hampshire State House. Before Election Day, Republicans held a 215-177 majority; that will shift to a 291-108 Democratic majority with the new Legislature. However, that’s pending the recounts, which could swing that split slightly.

In the state Senate, where Democrats gained seven seats to take a 15-9 majority, no candidates requested recounts.

With 424 seats between the House and Senate, New Hampshire has the largest state legislature in the United States. Many House districts overlap with one another, and in some towns, voters pick more than one candidate each.

State law allows candidates who lose the initial count by 20 percent or less of the total votes to request a recount by the Friday following an election. Some lost by as few as two votes.

On Monday, a team of Secretary of State’s Office employees and volunteers convened at the State Archives building in Concord to recount the ballots. Additionally, poll watchers from both parties arrived to observe the process. If any watcher takes issue with the way a ballot was counted, they can take it up with the state’s Ballot Law Commission.

Secretary of State David Scanlan said he anticipates recounts taking two weeks. He said they’ll work every weekday except Wednesday, which is Veterans Day. Two recounts had been completed as of Tuesday afternoon.

Here are the races being recounted, per the Secretary of State’s Office:

William Skipworth covers health for the New Hampshire Bulletin. Prior to joining the Bulletin, he wrote for Forbes, PolitiFact, and newspapers across the country, including in Texas, Missouri, and Indiana. New Hampshire Bulletin is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Boston Globe. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.