GST Supports Re-Electing Bill Gardner as Secretary of State on 12/5/18!.
New Hampshire House and Senate members will vote in the election on Organization Day.
Gardner has been an ally in GST efforts to promote election law reform.
Re-Electing Gardner has been recommended by various bipartisan groups including:
National Committee Members (Democrat and Republican)
Former New Hampshire Governors (Republican and Democrat)
Former New Hampshire GOP Chair
Legislative Leaders (Democrat and Republican)
Please tell your Legislators to re-elect Bill Gardner as Secretary of State.
We urge them to re-elect Bill Gardner, and we offer these reasons for doing so.
The Secretary of State has a major role in managing elections and the First in the Nation Primary.
The incumbent must conduct elections with impartiality and fealty to statute.
They also have to defend the First in the Nation Primary and counter efforts or issues that could lose it.
We are the First in The Nation not solely because we have statutes that require us to be first.
We keep our position, and our stature, in large part because National political parties support it.
The RNC passed rules to reduce Convention delegates for states jumping ahead of New Hampshire.
That currently is a major disincentive for many states that question why our small state should be first.
Absent such support, we might hold our Primary first, as required by statute, but find nobody cares.
Keeping our Primary (and National Party allegiance) requires an impartial Secretary of State.
Gardner is widely acknowledged to conduct impartial elections and not engage the political process.
Keeping our Primary (and National Party allegiance) requires election laws that have integrity.
Elections must accurately represent the will of New Hampshire voters, free of outside manipulation.
New Hampshire is unique in the country in allowing residents of other states to vote.
An out of state driver’s license provides proof of identity, but also proves residency in another state.
In 2016, 6,540 people used an out of state driver’s license to register and vote in New Hampshire.
491 used an out of state license to change registration from one New Hampshire town to another.
We also, uniquely, allow people to vote without providing documentation of a presence in state.
These facts provide ammunition for opponents of the Primary, and fuel periodic allegations of fraud.
Gardner supported Senate Bill 3 to require that registrants show documentation of a presence in state.
That demonstrated his impartiality and effort to eliminate an issue with which to attack the Primary.
That support ran counter to the NH Democratic Party, which later filed a (current) lawsuit against SB 3.
Bill Gardner has been impartial. He defends election integrity and the First in The Nation Primary.
Re-electing him will demonstrate to covetous other states our commitment to these principles.
Also, it will demonstrate our rejection of partisanship in the Office that manages our elections.
We Need our Legislature to re-elect Bill Gardner as Secretary of State.