Cardona is a Puerto Rican immigrant who works a day job at J.C. Swain Enterprise, a telemarketing firm, while pursuing a career in politics. He’s raising a daughter with his husband, John Swain, and is a fierce political advocate for LGBTQ and minority rights. Over the past two years he’s hosted several Democratic presidential candidates at his home, and last year he was the subject of an article in The Washington Post, which discussed his “startling political power” against all odds. This is all despite the fact that Cardona has never actually held elected office -- he was defeated in a run for New Hampshire House of Representatives, Merrimack 2 in 2010.
Election 2020: Voting Absentee in the Military
With the COVID-19 pandemic happening during a critical election cycle, it’s no surprise many voters are turning to mail-in absentee ballots this year. That’s left many people wondering how their vote will be protected in transit to their local clerk’s office.
However, voting by mail is something the military has been doing since the Civil War in 1864, and the processes they have in place have allowed the safe transfer of ballots from soldiers stationed stateside and globally.
Election 2020: Poll Workers Prepare For Election
As Dover resident Wayne Charrette tuned into the first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday, Sep. 29 in Cleveland, he decided to take action after President Trump urged his supporters to “go into the polls and watch very carefully.”
So, citing President Trump’s remarks and considering the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on older, higher-risk individuals, Charrette, who did not give his exact age, but said he is in his 30s, decided to sign up to be a poll worker. Thousands of other Americans have made the same decision ahead of the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election.
Election 2020: How Secure are Mail-in Ballots in New Hampshire?
Election 2020: Will NH know the results on election night? State official, expert say, yes.
In a Politico/Morning Consult poll from late-September, two-thirds of respondents said they didn’t expect to know the winner of the presidential election on Election Night.
Much of that concern has to do with the expanded mail-in voting being done by numerous swing states across the country, according to University of New Hampshire Survey Center Director Andrew Smith.
Election 2020: Poll-watchers, voter intimidation not a concern in New Hampshire
With roughly two weeks before the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election, many voters have already cast their ballots now that New Hampshire is allowing anyone with concerns or fears about Covid-19 to submit absentee ballots this year.
However, for those who wish to keep with tradition and cast their ballots in person, another concern for some deals with worries about poll-watchers.
Election 2020: How can you make sure your absentee ballot is counted?
With New Hampshire now allowing all voters to claim COVID-19 as a reason for voting absentee, more Granite Staters than ever will likely cast absentee ballots in this year’s election.
But with concerns around an overloaded mail system amid a global pandemic, how can you make sure your absentee ballot is counted?
Election 2020: Should we be worried about voter fraud in NH? Not really.
Eric Trump to Manchester supporters: ‘God is on our side. You better believe he had his hands in that election process’
President Donald Trump’s campaign team is continuing to send campaign surrogates to New Hampshire as the election draws closer. One of his sons, Eric Trump, is the latest surrogate from the campaign to arrive in hopes of flipping the state red after a narrow defeat in 2016.
Trump arrived at the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel to stump for his father to a full venue — albeit smaller than usual due to socially distanced seating — and a highly enthusiastic crowd, donning MAGA hats and holding Trump/Pence signs. A portion of the event-goers could not be inside due to limited seating.
Election 2020: What is Ballot Harvesting?
A few states, including California, allow anyone to collect ballots for drop off, the idea being that some voters may not have an immediate family member available to do so for them, as is the restriction in many states. But the practice has raised concerns about election security, especially as some campaigns and political parties use ballot collection as a strategy to get out the vote.
How the Electoral College works in NH
The Electoral College is a widely misunderstood and confusing institution for Americans. The big message is clear though: a candidate needs 270 electoral votes to become the President of the United States. New Hampshire possesses four of these electoral votes. While a small number, these four votes are essential for anyone seeking the presidency. But who casts these votes?
Pandemic Inspires New Hunters To Take To The Woods
Even before coronavirus, Savannah Vallier, 26, was starting to become interested in hunting. She was looking for a more ethical and healthy meat option, and wanted to be a more mindful consumer of meat products, she said. When the pandemic interrupted food supply chains around the country, Vallier knew it was time to begin hunting.
“It really made me panic once the distribution chains began to grind to a halt,” said Vallier, who lives in Nashua. “Realizing that I did not know how to physically put food on my table other than swiping a credit card was pretty frightening.”
Hunting Is A Valuable Food Source For Granite Staters
When Dumont goes hunting he thinks about the amount of food his family needs and what they already have in the freezer. In a given year he harvests between 1 to 3 deer, depending on what meat is left from the previous season.
The coronavirus has accelerated the already-thriving trend toward local and sustainable foods. For some New Hampshire residents, like Dumont, hunted meat is the ultimate local, sustainable and ethical food source.
National Polling Shows a Lead for Biden. What does that mean in NH?
New Hampshire has proven to be a key battleground state for both presidential candidates, with candidate surrogates from both sides arriving to the state to persuade key voters. Vice President Mike Pence hosted a rally at Laconia Municipal Airport on Sept. 22 and Joe Biden’s spouse, Dr. Jill Biden stopped by Manchester for a campaign event on Oct. 2nd.
New Hampshire Cruising Patrons, Travel Agents, Have Eye On Industry
Two weeks before their April 2020 cruise Stephanie Boucher and her daughter Trisha Boucher found out the inevitable -- the trip was being cancelled.
The cruise was Nursecon at Sea, a nurses conference slated to take place over five days aboard a Royal Caribbean trip to the Bahamas. The cancelation wasn’t totally out of the blue as a No Sail Order had been in effect since the middle of March as covid-19 was docking boats that were scheduled to leave U.S. ports from coast to coast.
Pandemic Adds To Burdens For New Hampshire’s Homeless Families
Since September 9, Hartigan, 37, and his family have been living at The Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter. The family — along with the four others living in the shelter — have a private room to themselves. There are common areas for cooking and lounging, but during the pandemic they’ve been mostly empty, undermining the sense of community in the shelter, said Olga Cruz, the Director of Housing Services at the organization.
“It really felt like a war zone," Grantham nurse, reservist describes working in a Covid field hospital
Back in April when most New Hampshire residents were told to stay home to stop the spread of COVID-19, U.S. Army reserve critical care nurse Cherry Lynn Maglangit was called on to join a unique medical mission that brought together all branches of the military as well as civilian agencies to create field hospitals in cities throughout the country where she would fight on the frontlines of the pandemic.
NH cities combat new Covid-19 outbreak, increasing community transmission
The state’s two largest cities, Manchester and Nashua, are both experiencing this community transmission. Spokeswoman for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (NH DHHS) Laura Montenegro (cq) stated via email Friday that the densest population of residents in the state reside in Nashua and Manchester, so increased cases in those two cities would be expected.
Santas are trading lap chats for Zoom calls this season
Students are showing up to remote classes, but tech problems are still prominent
During the summer break, teachers have been focusing on how to best keep students engaged in a full day of school in a digital environment. Last spring, with little time to prepare digital learning plans, schools had a mix of synchronous and asynchronous learning. This year, many educators say the switch to more live, fact-to-face learning time is a major factor to getting better attendance.