'We Have A Tested Process': Sec. Of State Says New Hampshire Primary Won't Be A Repeat Of Iowa
CONCORD, N.H. (CBS) – Could the Iowa caucus debacle happen again to the Democrats in New Hampshire's First-In-The-Nation primary next week? Secretary of State Bill Gardner has a simple answer – "no."
"We have a tested process that has withstood the ages," Gardner told WBZ-TV on Tuesday. "We still have towns using voting machines that are 130+ years old."
Iowa Democrats are blaming a coding issue in their app-based reporting system for failing to deliver results following Monday night's caucuses. Party officials expect to release at least half of the results Tuesday evening.
"I feel for what's happened out there, I feel for them," said Gardner, who's been in office since 1976. "Their process seems to be pretty complicated."
No apps are needed to count votes in the Granite State.
"We keep it simple," he said. "We have a paper ballot, people vote with either a pen or a pencil. You can't hack a pencil."
Once filled out, the ballots go into a counting machine that is not connected to the internet. Gardner expects results will be available next Tuesday before 10 p.m.