Vote-counting machine foes hoped for a surge of success in New Hampshire. They got barely a ripple

HOPKINTON, N.H. (AP) — Like the old saying about March itself, an orchestrated effort to get rid of vote-counting machines in New Hampshire this month came in like a lion and went out like a lamb.

“Electronic machines will face the wrath of New Hampshire voters in March!” Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder and ally of former President Donald Trump, crowed in a January fundraising pitch.

Not quite. After initially targeting 55 towns, Lindell’s supporters gathered enough petitions to bring the topic up at 23 of the annual town meetings held this month to adopt budgets and settle other matters. Only Danville — population 4,500 — voted in favor of hand-counting ballots, and only for presidential elections in a decision that both the town’s attorney and the secretary of state say is unlikely to stand.

“There was a lot of misinformation that was being spread,” Secretary of State David Scanlan said Thursday. “I think the general public saw through it, and the votes at those town meetings reflect that.”

The push for hand-counting ballots has been gaining popularity across rural America in response to unfounded claims of widespread fraud tied to ballot-counting machines following the 2020 election. There is no evidence that machines were tampered with, and such claims have been repeatedly rejected by election experts, prosecutors and judges.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«READ MORE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> READ MORE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> New Hampshire Senate passes bill to expand scope of youth detention center victim settlements