Grafton County welcomed members of the Special Committee on Redistricting to the County courthouse on Tuesday.  

Thanks to those who held signs out front and to those who offered testimony. It was a tremendous group effort.

Open Democracy,  a non-partisan not-for-profit group,  also brought some of  their new FAIR MAPS. Below is the link to their material. Scroll down to see the comparative maps 2010-2020. 
http://gencourt.state.nh.us/remotecommittee/redistricting/showtestimony.aspx?&id=96685

You can listen here to the testimonies of Grafton County residents; it starts at the first testimony: https://youtu.be/AeC6IKny_Pg?t=858

Then on Thursday, the Redistricting Committee had a committee meeting where they discussed the pros and cons of the ideal number of representatives and the challenges of redistricting when city wards have not yet been finalized. David Andrews of Open Democracy Action presented the method he used to maximize the number of single-town districts as required by the constitution. Here is the InDepthNh article:
http://indepthnh.org/2021/09/30/restricting-committee-sets-house-seats-at-400/

ACTON: Email the Special Committee on Redistricting members, and ask the Committee to hold another round of hearings AFTER maps are drawn for the public to react and offer input directly to the committee.
Group email:  
HouseSpecialCommitteeOnRedistricting@leg.state.nh.us
Or list of committee members: 
http://gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/committeedetails.aspx?id=1532

The Voter Outreach Committee of Grafton County Dems held a workshop for participants in their deep canvassing project. Meeting at Lakeside Park in Enfield, a dozen people reviewed canvassing strategies to reach infrequent voters and practiced conversation in role-playing exercises.

The pilot project is underway in Enfield,  Canaan and Lebanon this fall, aiming to develop a model for voter engagement that can be used throughout Grafton County in the future. 

This was the fourth workshop for the Voter Outreach team. The first two workshops were on Zoom, and the third and fourth were held outside under the new Lakeside Park pavilion in Enfield. 

Thanks to the team led by Martha Rich, and the many volunteers who showed up in all the workshops! 

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Back to the Strafford County redistricting testimony from last night and our retired UNH professor who wrote software that not only fulfills the constitutional requirements but minimizes the number of towns and wards not given their own reps. Powerful! It’s a Youtube clip, about 8 minutes long and is shared from the start of his testimony.

https://youtu.be/aiuWe068iyA?t=3614

Reproductive rights are under attack in New Hampshire and across the United States. As this assault on health care and personal freedom around the country continues, it’s important to stand up and make your voice heard.  

Here are two Women’s Marches happening in Grafton County on October 2nd! Please join and share with others.

North Country  1:00 PM

https://act.womensmarch.com/event/oct-2-2021-march/1853?source=map&akid=

Great North Woods Welcome Center. 25 Park St Lancaster NH 03584

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Lebanon  2:00pm

https://act.womensmarch.com/event/oct-2-2021-march/2349?source=map&akid=

Colburn Park, 51 Park St. Lebanon NH

Forceful testimony last night at redistricting hearing in Strafford county. The committee is using a program written by a non-programmer designed over 10 years ago to create districts. His program is all based on numbers and does not include communities of interest and is not proprietary. We heard testimony from a retired UNH computer science professor and programmer who has written his own program and said it really wasn’t that difficult to include communities of interest. And he would share out the program.

InDepthNH Paula Tracy

This week, just when you thought the New Hampshire legislature couldn’t bow down any more to far right extremists, they went even further.

Sign up for a women’s rights march and redistricting testimony workshop. Catch up on what a week it was with articles and youtube clips, including an interviews with Rep.Marsh.

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