HopNews published an anonymous letter to the editor questioning the integrity of the voting process in Hopkinton. This sparked numerous inquiries and led to the spread of misinformation.
HopNews extends our gratitude to Hopkinton’s Town Clerk, Connor Degan, for his thoughtful responses to the questions. This clarification should address any concerns regarding the proper processing of votes in Hopkinton.
Connor Degan:
“I serve as the Chief Local Election Official for the Town and take ballot access seriously. I am a proud resident of Hopkinton and have served as your Town Clerk since 2016. I am always available for the public to ask questions about what goes on behind the scenes in order to make local government more accessible and transparent. In this letter, my aim will be to caution readers against unsubstantiated sources and address the claims and concerns made by the unidentified writer as they could certainly be in the minds of other readers.”
Why are we receiving the postcards for our children? What is to prevent me from requesting ballots using my children’s name – especially my child that moved out of state?
“This individual is not receiving postcards for their children, these are applications being mailed to voters, registered at the address. They are adults under the law and registered to vote. If a registered voter has moved, they need to inform us themselves, and/or they need to register to vote at their new address.
We are unable to remove a registered voter without their signed request. Once we receive such a request, we send them a letter to verify that they have moved. If we don’t hear back from them we remove them after a period of inactivity. If the voter is still getting a card, they are still registered at that address and should contact our office to fix that with us.”
How old is the voter list that the Secretary of State using? Does it include unregistered voters?
“The Secretary uses the lists that we maintain locally to send this mailing. We painstakingly update, maintain, and prune the lists annually through a few methods as well as updating it when information changes during the year.
First, we send the census to every household to verify that all residents still reside at those addresses. If voter’s don’t respond or are marked as moved by those still there, we inactivate them and send letters to verify that they still live here or that they have moved.
Finally, if there has been no activity on a voter and they have not done anything to prove their continued residence, we delete them after going two state election cycles with inactivity.
This list does not include “unregistered voters” and only goes to registered voters, at the location they are registered.”
Based on my experience, voter fraud is possible and based on recent court cases (a Mass. Couple was recently convicted of illegally voting in NH), happening today.
“We do not know anything about the writer’s experience as they are anonymous and only allegedly a resident. This statement is also a misrepresentation; the claim is that voter fraud is possible in Hopkinton, Massachusetts and the evidence provided is that a couple tried to vote illegally in New Hampshire.
This of course does not mean voter fraud is impossible, but these issues are not related to one another. This also shows that the penalties for even attempting to vote fraudulently are severe, for very little reward, as this couple mentioned has been charged with multiple felony counts for the alleged fraud and NH does not have as many methods for voter list maintenance as MA.”
If fraud can happen here, I’m sure it can happen elsewhere on a much larger scale.
“The writer has not shown that fraud can or has happened here and it is a major jump to say that the claims made show that it can happen on a large scale. This statement is based on a false premise and shouldn’t be taken seriously without evidence.
It is vital that people know the source of their information, as anonymous sources with no stated credentials are capable of spreading misinformation with no accountability for their actions, as we have seen time and time again across the political spectrum.
When people have concerns about the process, I encourage them to come forward and have a dialogue with us. We have had people come in and express concerns or ask questions and we use it as an opportunity to show them what we do to make sure their vote is counted and secure.
On the occasion that a constructive criticism is brought to us, we work with experts to enhance our systems within the bounds of the laws and regulations.
It continues to be my great honor to serve you, the residents of the Town of Hopkinton. Thank you for your continued faith and support.”
Sincerely,
Connor B. Degan
Why was the original opinion piece taken down?
It seems weird that it was removed after the points in the ‘anonymous’ piece were contradicted.
Well said, Mr Degan!
First, I want to thank Mr. Deegan for taking the time to respond and, I can assure Mr. Deegan that I am a citizen that lives in Hopkinton (I’ve passed by you while voting in the middle school gym!). I want to make it clear that my intent was not to create a controversy but to get clarification for the public on a very sensitive subject. I support every citizens right to vote for whoever they want. Voter suppression is wrong and should not be condoned.
However, the ads and postcards that were sent out by the Sec. of State do not provide the detail regarding the process that Mr. Deegan provided. That being said, I do have some continuing concerns:
– My children moved out at least 2 years ago and we have updated our info via the annual census – at least twice. So, my question remains, why are we still receiving postcards for them since they haven’t lived with us for at least 2 years?
– So based on your letter above, it is up to the voter to inform the town when they move. What is the period of time of “inactivity” does it take for the town to remove the voter from the rolls?
Again, thank you to Mr. Deegan for being open and honest with his response. I appreciate the time, effort, and responsibility that he has regarding voting integrity.
I miss HopTake. Bring back Jimmy Scanlon!
Thank you Connor!
Thank you Mr. Deegan and the original poster. It’s super important that good faith concerns about voting integrity are openly discussed. I think I maybe gave the original poster a more hostile reception than was warranted, for which I apologize.
Regarding what people say about election integrity, some things bears repeating:
1. Almost nobody commits voter fraud in national elections as their is almost no chance that it will sway the election and there are severe penalties. There are countless non partisan studies showing this. If it was possible to swing the election in this manner, foreign state actors would be doing it.
2. Public belief in fair elections is the basis of peaceful transfer of power. Before sharing election integrity concerns publicly, check a non partisan resource. The 140 police officers assaulted by a mob that falsely believed that the election was stolen on Jan. 6 will thank you.