Sorry - but state sovereignty is one thing. Accountability is another altogether. The NH Dept of State has used federal funds to investigate citizen watchdogs instead of obvious election irregularities, appears to have violated state law in the conduct of its elections, appears to have changed election results without explanation on their website, appears to have accepted unreconcilable numbers from city and town elections, and now this. It's all too easy to just give these guys a pass. It is time to hold our NH election officials accountable.

SOURCE: Boston.com
The Associated Press

By Norma Love, Associated Press Writer | July 29, 2008

CONCORD, N.H. --Secretary of State William Gardner is out of compliance in how his office spent $1 million in federal funds to help with election improvements, state auditors told lawmakers Tuesday.

Gardner disputed the finding presented to the joint legislative Fiscal Committee. He said the auditors believe he should've sought approval from a federal commission that doesn't have the authority to tell states how to spend the money.

Gardner said that would infringe on New Hampshire's sovereignty in handling its elections, including its first-in-the-nation presidential primary. The money went to build a facility to train elections officers and house the election system's operation.

After the presentation, the committee voted to accept the report and put it on file. None criticized Gardner -- who many lawmakers credit with protecting the status of New Hampshire's primary.

Republican Rep. Kenneth Weyler of Kingston praised Gardner's department for its efficiency.

"I have read your comments and support many of them," he said of Gardner's response to the audit.

But the auditors did not.

They also criticized Gardner's department for lacking effective internal financial controls, recommending the creation of a senior financial manager position. The auditors noted that the Legislature has exempted the department -- which also is responsible for vital records, state archives, securities regulation and various filings from corporations -- from much of the state's normal control process.

The auditors recommended that the department establish formal policies, upgrade computer systems and better monitor operations.

"The continued success of the department is in large part dependent upon the incumbents in the positions and not on established policies and procedures in place at the department," the auditors found.

Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan said the department already is working to fix some of the issues, but disagrees with the scope and severity of the criticism. The department has struck a balance between maintaining a minimal staff and reasonable internal controls, he said.

The election-improvement money came from the Help America Vote Act passed in 2002, a mammoth reform package designed to prevent a repeat of the 2000 presidential election meltdown.

New Hampshire has received $16.6 million in HAVA funding since 2003. The money was put into an election fund and is commingled with other income; Scanlan could not say Tuesday how much has been spent implementing HAVA. The fund has $14.5 million in it including interest, he said.

The auditors also noted that Gardner spent nearly $3 million in state money from 2005 to 2007 to upgrade New Hampshire's election computer system when the federal voting act money should have been used, instead.

The state funding was from the department's corporate administration account, which Gardner said state law authorizes him to use for computer system spending.

The auditors said if the federal money had been used instead, the state funds would have been available for other purposes. Gardner noted he ultimately trimmed the state spending by $1 million.

Gardner insists New Hampshire has complied with the federal voting act, just not with directives issued by the federal commission. Gardner said the law gave the states authority to spend the federal money at their discretion. The commission wants to control how the money is spent, he said. He released an opinion dated Monday from the attorney general's office that said the federal commission has exceeded its authority in demanding such accounting.

"There's a group down there (in Washington) that wants to take over the whole election process," he told reporters after the audit presentation. "They (the commission) get a foot in and they take the rest. That's why I'm so adamant with this."