NH Officials Deny Trump's Claims Of Election Fraud
CONCORD, NH (CBS) - As quickly as Donald Trump called the Granite State's election process into question, officials were on the defense.
In a Sunday night Tweet, the President-elect fired off, "Serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California – so why isn't the media reporting on this? Serious bias – big problem!"
"There's no evidence of widespread voter fraud," said Assistant Attorney General Brian Bounanano, who works in the AG's election unit. His office is looking into four fraud claims. "Specifically of people voting in the wrong place," he said.
Hillary Clinton won New Hampshire by more than 2,732 votes.
Trump's tweet was part of his reaction to Green Party candidate Jill Stein's bid for recounts in other battleground states, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. It's a move Hillary Clinton's campaign is backing.
In New Hampshire, where voters have to show a photo ID or sign an affidavit before casting a ballot, officials stand by the final count. "The ballot Law Commission met today, as they're required to in statute law after a general election, and they had no appeals to take up," said Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlon.
New Hampshire's outgoing Democratic Governor, Maggie Hassan, won the battleground state's Senate race by only 743 votes. She sent a statement saying, "His tweet is completely unsubstantiated and claims of voter fraud in New Hampshire have earned Politifact's rating of 'Pants on Fire'."
"Pants on Fire" is the lowest rating given by the fact-checking group Politifact, which looked into claims of voter fraud in New Hampshire before the election. Republican candidate Chris Sununu had claimed voters were being bused in from out of state. Politifact found no evidence to back that up, and he went on to win the New Hampshire Governor's seat.
