The Sandwich Democratic Town Committee

Toward the end of the presidential campaign Lou Cerrone (SDTC Vice Chair) and I made a journey up to New Hampshire to help with door-to-door canvassing for the President. As part of our orientation we were told that the time for regular registration to vote had passed. However, in New Hampshire someone may registration to vote at the polls on the day of the election, and thus cast a ballot.

Armed with information about how to do same-day registration we headed off to go door-knocking for the Obama campaign. On our route we encountered several enthusiastic supporters of the President who had not yet registered. So, we dutifully informed them of the procedure and required documentation for registering at the polls on Election Day. It wasn’t an easy process to complete but the people we spoke with claimed to have all the necessary documentation and understood what we told them they had to do. On we went to the next door, absolutely convinced that there was no way those people would actually register and vote on Election Day.

Boy, were we wrong! Although we have no way of knowing whether the people we met actually registered and voted at the polls, a story in today’s Globe revealed startling information. It turns out that approximately 14% of the votes cast in NH on Election Day were cast by people who registered to vote at the polls – 14%! There were 99,319 same-day voter registrations: “…the state saw a nearly 30 percent increase in the number of people who registered at the polls on Election Day.”

Some place in there are a number of lessons about canvassing, voting, and voter-friendly provisions to enable, not block, the ability of citizens to cast their ballots. Given the outcome of the election – both in NH and across the nation – I have to say I am really happy about being wrong.