CONCORD, NH — A voting data request from the Speaker of the House to both the Department of Safety and the Secretary of State has revealed that more than 5,000 people who were allowed to vote in the November 2016 general election probably don't actually live in the state and also never became drivers or registered vehicles in New Hampshire. In mid-August, Speaker Shawn Jasper, R-Hudson, requested the statistical information in order to assist representatives so they could assess "the effectiveness of our current election laws as well as future legislation that could improve our voter registration and verification processes." Jasper pointed to both the Help America Vote Act – for new voters – as well as state law that requires state police to match the voter checklist with driving information to ensure accuracy and validity of voter checklists and registered voters.

On Nov. 8, 2016, 6,540 voters used an out-of-state driver's license as identification to vote but as of Aug. 30, 2017, only 1,014 of those individuals – 15.5 percent – had been issued a New Hampshire driver's license, according to the data. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Concord NH Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.) Concord" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://www.facebook.com/Conco... NH Patch Of the remaining 5,526 individuals, only 3.3 percent – about 213 people – had a registered motor vehicle.

Of the 5,313 individuals who registered to vote same-day on Election Day, 81 percent – 4,314 people – neither held a New Hampshire driver's license nor had a registered vehicle in the state ever.

With the exception of the gubernatorial race – where Republican Chris Sununu easily bested Democrat Colin Van Ostern by more than 16,000 votes – Democrats won all the other statewide and Congressional races.

But three races were determined by less than 5,000 votes: Gov. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat, beat incumbent U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte by 1,017 votes – although many have suspected that last minute, illegal campaign mailers pushing votes to independent Aaron Day cost Ayotte the race. Hillary Clinton bested Donald Trump by 2,736, earning the state's 4 Electoral College votes even though she ultimately lost the presidency. U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter was sent back to Congress after she bested incumbent U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta by a few more than 4,900 votes.

U.S. Rep. Ann McLane Kuster won re-election over Jim Lawrence by more than 15,500 votes.

In a companion letter from both Secretary of State Bill Gardner and Department of Safety Commissioner John Barthelmes to Jasper, they noted that "some unknown number" of the individuals moved out of New Hampshire and it was possible that a few may never have driven in the state or ceased driving in the state. They also noted the biggest problem with attempting to limit voter participation to people who actually live in New Hampshire – a 2015 state Supreme Court decision – Annamarie Gaure vs. state of New Hampshire – which preserved a domicile loophole for voting (despite a federal law that requires residency for federal elections). The letter noted that the Secretary of State's Office prepared nearly 12,000 30-day letters to voters where they had "credible information" that the voters no longer lived – or never lived – in the address provided. As a result of the mailing, 11,320 voters were removed from the checklists, the letter stated. Neither Gardner nor Barthelmes explained what information led nearly 12,000 voters to be removed from the checklists but the shear number, and the fact that New Hampshire is not a very transient state, shows a lot more than 5,000 fraudulent votes could have been cast in November. The letter also stated that only 622 were either verified as still domiciled in the city or town or remained under review.