The New Hampshire Democrat Party has filed a lawsuit to stop a recount for a statehouse seat, arguing that the election results should stand, even if they are wrong.
In the lawsuit, which was filed on Nov. 18, the Democrats are seeking a permanent injunction against any further audits of the race results between Republican Larry Gange and Democrat Maxine Mosley for one of the New Hampshire House of Representatives seats in Manchester, the state’s largest city.
Democrats argue that state law prohibits any further audits of election results once the secretary of state declares a winner.
“At the conclusion of the recount, Democrat Maxine Mosley was declared the winner by the secretary of state. The secretary of state’s declaration of Mosley’s victory was posted on the secretary of state’s website,” the lawsuit states.
Republicans called the lawsuit a desperate move by the Democrats to overcome the Republicans’ one-seat hold over the 400-seat House that was born out of the midterm elections.
“If the split was wider than than the current 200 to 199 seat for the House, I doubt there would be a lawsuit,” Bill O”Brien, attorney for the New Hampshire Republican Party told The Epoch Times.
Democrats are already facing the loss of another seat with a recount for a statehouse seat where the candidates receives the same number of votes. If the New Hampshire Ballot Law Commission can’t resolve the tie, a vote of the newly-seated Legislature will decide its outcome.
O’Brien, who is a former speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, said the secretary of state never declared a winner in the race, but instead only posted results prior to a discrepancy discovery when the secretary of state conducted an audit of the gubernatorial race in the same district.
Mosley called for the initial recount after election results showed Gagne had beat her by 23 votes.
The recount handed Mosley a one-vote lead. However, when Scanlan’s office conducted an audit of the gubernatorial results in the district, Republicans noticed the audit turned up 25 votes not included in the original tally in the Gagne and Mosley race.
When the discrepancy was pointed out, Scanlan agreed that more auditing of the race needed to be conducted, a conclusion that drew criticism from the Democrats.
“It’s unfortunate that Secretary Scanlan is clearly ignoring New Hampshire election law, but we will do whatever it takes to protect the integrity of our elections,” Colin Booth, Communications Director for the New Hampshire Democratic Party said in a statement.
High Time the Democrats get SUED !!!!