Alex de Geofroy

Chairman and Members of the Committee, My name is Alex de Geofroy, and I write to you today from a unique vantage point in New Hampshire municipal governance. I have served the City of Rochester as a City Councilor, as a Moderator, and currently as a Ward Clerk. I have been the person responsible for the budget that buys the machines, and the person responsible for the integrity of the count once the polls close. I urge you to report HB1076 as Inexpedient to Legislate for the following reasons: 1. Operational Chaos and Administrative Instability As a Ward Clerk, I know that election administration requires significant planning. HB1076 allows a town meeting to rescind the use of tabulators with a 60-day effective date. In a city like Rochester, switching to a full hand-count on two months' notice would be an administrative catastrophe. We would need to recruit and train dozens of additional workers in a labor market where poll workers are already scarce. 2. The Fiscal Irresponsibility of "On-Again, Off-Again" Technology As a former City Councilor, I view this bill as a threat to municipal budgets. Electronic tabulators are significant capital investments. Allowing a single, high-emotion Town Meeting to "rescind" the use of equipment that the taxpayers just spent thousands of dollars on is fiscally reckless. It turns a long-term infrastructure decision into a yearly political football. 3. Hand Counting Increases Error, Not Integrity In my experience as a Moderator, I have overseen hand-counts. While the "FUD" (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) narrative suggests machines are the "black box," the reality is that human fatigue is the greatest threat to accuracy. At 11:00 PM, after a 15-hour day, human beings struggle to tally "Vote for N#" races on a paper ballot. Our current electronic tabulators are state-approved, air-gapped, and produce a paper trail that we already use for audits and recounts. 4. Undermining Public Confidence through Delay NH election law requires the count to continue until finished. For a ward or town of any significant size, a mandatory hand-count means results will not be available until the early morning hours. In today’s climate, these delays are the primary fuel for conspiracy theories. By mandating a slower, more error-prone process, this bill inadvertently creates the very "lack of trust" it claims to solve. Election policy should be driven by the officials who have to execute it: the Clerks and Moderators, not by a warrant article process that can be swayed by the latest social media trend. We already have robust laws for hand-counting when results are in doubt. HB1076 is an unfunded mandate for chaos. I respectfully ask the committee to vote ITL on HB1076.