CONCORD — Even though Lou Gargiulo lost his New Hampshire Senate race by more than 11 percent in November, and even though a two-day recount confirmed his clear loss, he kept pressing forward with procedural challenges for weeks after the election.
Gargiulo, a Republican from Hampton Falls who paid more than $2,000 for the recount as a “fact-finding” exercise, finally relented in early December. He agreed to withdraw his appeal after a meeting with state Ballot Law Commission chairman Brad Cook, who said Gargiulo would be allowed to come back before the commission to voice his election-related concerns.
Gargiulo cashed that rain check on Wednesday. He brought his attorney and an entourage of supporters to the commission’s meeting, along with thick stacks of printed-out slides about potential problems he said his team of volunteers spotted in the seven towns that comprise Senate District 24, where he had campaigned.
Even though Gargiulo no longer had an appeal pending before the commission, his attorney Corey MacDonald was allowed to speak for an hour about what Gargiulo’s group claimed to have uncovered.
MacDonald said the effort wasn’t driven by conspiracy theories or partisanship. Rather, the initiative sought to improve the accuracy of future elections, he said.
“We are not contesting the result of the election,” MacDonald said. “We don’t want anything done about the election. We are not using this as a stepping stone to go, ‘Hey, let’s get a redo.’ And by taking that off the table, hopefully it eliminates some of the skepticism that might come with that.”
The document MacDonald presented to the commission begins with a full-page disclaimer. It says the report was prepared by volunteers, that it includes “the interpretation of information received by lay people,” and that it shouldn’t be seen as accusing any person or entity of any misconduct.
The report itself, however, specifically alleges numerous technical violations of law and policy. It claims, for example, the towns of Greenland, Rye, and Exeter failed to fill out ballot storage logs as required by state law. It also emphasizes concerns about documentation, chain-of-custody issues, and “machine tape discrepancies” in Exeter.
Gargiulo had earlier linked his post-election maneuvering to an effort to challenge New Hampshire’s current procedures related to absentee ballots. That topic was mentioned in the group’s written report, but MacDonald didn’t linger on it during his presentation.
Gargiulo, a businessman who has been involved in Republican politics for years, served as a New Hampshire co-chair for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. After losing his bid for state Senate, he campaigned unsuccessfully this year for the job of New Hampshire GOP chairman.
Secretary of State David Scanlan thanked MacDonald and Gargiulo for their constructive criticism. He said it’s important to promote transparency about potential flaws and compliance missteps in the state’s election administration. Making those “warts and pimples” visible helps to boost public confidence, he said. At the same time, it’s sometimes easy to see an ideal but not-so-easy to attain it, he added.
Scanlan’s message reflects one he’s been harping on since he stepped into the job early last year. He formed a special committee that spent months listening to public concerns and drafting a final report on voter confidence.
In an interview after Wednesday’s meeting, Scanlan told the Globe the election system is designed to handle “a degree of error,” as evidenced by the fact that recounts sometimes unearth innocent mistakes in addition or transcription.
“That’s just the human part of the process,” he said. “What’s important is that the results of the election reflect who truly won the election.”
Scanlan said the concerns raised by Gargiulo’s report shouldn’t lead voters to worry about the integrity of New Hampshire’s electoral process.
“A lot of the issues that were presented today are just issues with local election officials either being too busy to complete a function that needs to be done at the polling place, or they may be too new to understand that they need to do certain things. That’s just an ongoing challenge that we have with elections,” he said.
“Even with all the little faults that surfaced today, I think voters in New Hampshire should have complete confidence in the election results that take place here,” he added.
During the meeting, Gargiulo urged officials to take action and impose financial or even criminal penalties on towns that repeatedly fail to comply with election procedures.
“We invested a huge amount of time, talent, and treasure in putting this together, recognizing that the election result wasn’t going to be changed. … This particular investigation led us to believe there are sufficient issues in the process that need to be addressed in some way,” he said.
“There’s a lack of teeth in the process,” he added.
MacDonald’s presentation concluded with a request that the Ballot Law Commission establish a working group or ad hoc committee to meet with Gargiulo’s volunteers to review their documentation and make written recommendations. Otherwise, MacDonald asked the commission to explain in writing why it was declining to take any further steps.
Chairman Cook told MacDonald and Gargiulo that the commission doesn’t have legal authority to take action on the report.
“We agreed to hear this because we thought you should be heard somewhere,” he said.
So instead of granting the request, Cook recommended that Gargiulo’s report be forwarded to the secretary of state’s and attorney general’s offices. The commission voted 4-1 in favor of Cook’s recommendation, with Kathy Sullivan dissenting.
Scanlan said his office will take a look at the issues raised in Gargiulo’s report, review training for election moderators and clerks, and continue promoting transparency.
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.