Despite concerns from the press and the government that the General Election could be facing a “heightened threat” on Election Day, everything in Andover went smoothly and uneventfully!

It takes a lot of people to make an election run smoothly. Our election went well, thanks to the efforts of our Town Clerk, Board of Selectmen, Supervisors of the checklist, faculty and staff of AE/MS, and our Police Department.  Additionally, 48 volunteers took on a variety of tasks: volunteers assembled the polling station on Monday, on Tuesday they greeted and checked people in, 18 teams counted ballots, and three teams entered data. Six people did double shifts, and a good number of people put in a 17-hour day.

1,222 votes were cast in Andover, 74 were absentee (including three from overseas), and 85 people registered to vote on Election Day.  It was a busy day and, although there was a steady stream of voters throughout the day, there was never more than a wait of a minute or two to check-in and receive a ballot. At the end of the day, we had 1,817 names on the checklist for a voter turn-out of 67%.

Highlights of the day included Andover getting a “good report” from the official Investigator from the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. (Investigators are sent to check out every polling station on Election Day.) There was also an “official election challenger” observing our election.  This is a person appointed by the state committee of a political party to act as a challenger of voters at the polling place.  The challenger assigned to Andover stated that our election “restored my faith” in the election process.

Highlights of the day for me personally were seeing young people excited to be voting for the first time. It was also very gratifying that so many voters came through and thanked the poll workers for their efforts.

I’d like to thank all the people: officials, workers, and voters alike, who did so much to make sure that this election went so smoothly.  It wouldn’t have happened without you.  Thank you!