Election Results on Par with Other NH Cities

Contrary to what some city residents may believe, Portsmouth reported its primary election result at about the same time and earlier than several other New Hampshire cities.

This was the take away from City Clerk Kelli Barnaby's report that she delivered at Monday night's City Council meeting in response to several complaints that residents lodged against City Hall on election night.

City residents expressed similar frustrations following the New Hampshire Presidential Primary on January 11 when the city wasn't able to report its official results until 11 a.m. the day after the primary because the required forms that accompany official NH Primary results were not completed until that time.

Barnaby told the City Council that Portsmouth primary election results were officially reported at 12:15 a.m. on Sept. 12 and unofficials results were posted at City Hall from each ward as they became available.

Barnaby said Manchester's primary election results came in at 1:45 a.m. and Nashua reported their election night results at 12 midnight. Meanwhile, Rochester reported its election results at 3 a.m.

Barnaby explained the process of counting the results and reporting them is very involved and has to be done to the letter of the law. She said if the city fails to follow the law, the city can be cited for that by the New Hampshire Secretary of State's office.

“We will continue to do the best that we can,” Barnaby said.

City Councilor Chris Dwyer asked her if the City Clerk's office could use some additional "fresh troops" to volunteer to help count voting results when the polls close on Nov. 6. Barnaby said the city is looking for more people to help out at the city's five wards on election day, but the ward officials and city clerk's staff are the only ones who can legally tally the election results.

City Councilor Ken Smith said he was very satisfied with Barnaby's report and commender her and her staff for the fine job that they do during every election.

“They’re counting them the right way and when they do put the results out they are accurate,” Smith said.

Here is the complete breakdown of when different New Hampshire cities and towns reported their primary election results:

• Portsmouth - 12:15 a.m.
• Manchester - 1:45 a.m.
• Nashua - after 12 midnight
• Rochester - 3 a.m.
• Keene - 11:30 p.m.
• Lebanon - 11:30 p.m.
• Berlin - 11:45 p.m.
• Bedford - 10:15 p.m.
• Exeter - 12:15 a.m.
• Newmarket - 10 p.m.
• Wolfeboro - 10 p.m.