ELECTION REPORT 2011
2010 brought us a busy Primary and General Election. However, almost all of the people who registered to vote in Bennington had been previously registered in other towns. In a participatory democracy, the goal is for everyone to participate. So this year the Supervisors are issuing a
"Bring-a-Friend" challenge! We all know them - a friend, a relative, a
co-worker - good people, but they don't vote. Whatever their reasons, whatever their age, they have chosen not to participate in the most fundamental activity of citizenship.
It's up to all of us to change this. So drag someone with you to the polls. We promise we will make registering and voting as painless as possible. And the good news is - once people start voting, they usually come back. Voting is kind of fun - it brings the whole community together in a way that no other activity does.
This year’s Town Elections will be Tuesday, March 8th. The Polls
will be open 8am – 7pm. Remember, we have Same-Day registration in
New Hampshire. Bring a picture I.D. with proof of residence to register to vote at the polls.
We still count votes by hand in Bennington, and we welcome volunteers to help. Vote counting is an interesting and rewarding way to get involved with your community. Every vote will be counted, and every vote counts! Paper ballots are still the best guarantee of free open elections, as they ensure a voter-verified paper trail. All are welcome to lend a hand on Election Day evening. Volunteer with the Town Moderator or Town Clerk
if you would like to help either during the day or in the evening.
As of this writing, Bennington has 1110 registered voters:
259 Democrats, 338 Republicans, and 513 Undeclared voters.
This year, the Supervisors will be performing the 10 year "purge" of the checklist. It sounds terrible, but really it's not. It is just the process we use to keep the checklist up-to-date. The Supervisors cannot take someone off the checklist unless we know for certain that they have died or re-registered somewhere else. With the computerized statewide checklist it is easy to track voters who move within the state. But when voters move farther, sometimes the information does not reach us. The purge allows us to remove some voters who have not voted in a very long time. First
we send out a letter to make sure they are not still living in
Bennington. If we get no response from them, then we can
remove them.
Don't forget to visit the Elections webpages if you have questions about voting, elections, etc. In them you can find information about registering to vote, the Election schedule, absentee voting, previous years' election reports, links to State and Federal Elections' sites, and more. Please visit them at:
http://benningtonelections.homestead.com/
Barbara Moorehead
SUPERVISORS OF THE CHECKLIST
