Record Voter Turnout In Andover On Election Day

November 26, 2012 • Saved under Committees
By Joanna Sumner, Andover Town Clerk/Tax Collector
Monday, November 26: Paul Currier, Pat Moyer, and Betsy McDonald help the Town Clerk get the tax bills into envelopes in preparation for dropping them at the Post Office. Photo: Charlie Darling

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the people who worked so hard at the election on November 6. It takes a lot of hands to make the process work smoothly.

Our first shift of ballot clerks were Judy Perreault, Ellie George, Paul Currier, and Charles McCrave. In the second shift were Arch Weathers, Nance Barrett, Shirley Currier, and Roger Kidder. The last shift was Rose Tilton, Doug Phelps, Deb Guinard, and Pat Moyer. 1,261 voters were checked in by them during the course of the day. This was a record turnout for the Town of Andover. There were 114 ballots cast by absentee voters and 185 people who registered to vote on Election Day.

Because of the huge voter turnout — over 80% of the registered voters in the town of Andover — our ballot counters Art Urie, Betsy McDonald, Irene Jewett, Wanda Smith, Deb Guinard, Doug Phelps, Rose Tilton, Vicky Mischon, Pat Moyer, Kit Norris, Margo Coolidge, and Trish Demers were still counting ballots at 1 AM the following morning. New residents Ron and Pam Cooper also stopped by to help with the counting. Many thanks to everyone.

Tax Bills

As you know, the state was late in getting our tax rate to us, so our bills have been mailed later than usual. However, you still have thirty days to pay the bill before any interest begins to accrue.

You can pay your taxes online by going to either Andover.NH.us or NHTaxKiosk.com. You can then provide your checking account number to pay by a direct debit to your checking account, or you can charge your tax bill to your credit card. There is a fee of 40¢ to pay directly from your checking account; the fee for using a credit card is 2.95%, which goes to the credit card company. For a typical Andover property appraised at $200,000, the fee for the credit card company would be about $110.

The tax rate in Andover is $18.67 and $18.38 in East Andover. The difference is because of the two separate fire districts.

Holiday Office Hours

Our office will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, December 24 and 25 for the Christmas holiday. However, we will be open on Friday, December 28, from 8 AM to 5 PM. I will also be open on Saturday morning, December 29, from 9 to 11 AM.

The following week, the office will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, December 31 and January 1.

Happy holidays to everyone!