An audit that examines a controversial New Hampshire legislative election will begin Tuesday, the attorney general’s office announced.
The audit, which will be live streamed from the Edward Cross Training Center in Pembroke, is reviewing the November 2020 Windham election for four state legislative seats. Republicans won all four seats, but questions emerged after a candidate who was a Democrat requested a recount. It found that all four Republicans gained an additional 300 votes, while the Democrat lost 99.
The discrepancy has fueled concerns among conservatives about the fairness of the country’s election process. Donald Trump last week praised those challenging the Windham vote count, as part of his wider claim of election fraud from 2020.
Trump had been to Windham in the past and is not shy about suggesting that voter fraud is rampant in the Granite State. In 2017, he claimed that he and former Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte would have won in New Hampshire the previous year if not for voters bused in from out of state. There is no evidence to support that claim.
Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters.
Recounts are not unusual in New Hampshire, which elects 424 lawmakers every two years and allows candidates to request recounts if the difference in votes is less than 20% of the total ballots cast. There have been at least 15 recounts after each of the past four election cycles, with only a handful of outcomes changed.
