WE'RE JUST GOOD AT STUFF:

A nationally known computer hacker, a term he wears proudly, helped keep an eye on New Hampshire's primary Tuesday but says you didn't need computer smarts to see that it went well.

"One big thing is no lines. When you go around the United States, usually the first thing you see if there are problems are long lines of people who can't get to vote," said Harri Hursti, a cybersecurity analyst who founded DefCon, the nation's best-known gathering of people interested in computer security.

Hursti has worked with the New Hampshire Secretary of State's office since about 2005, when he met Secretary of State Bill Gardner at a conference. His presence here for Tuesday's primary was of particular importance because of the meltdown of the Iowa caucuses caused largely by the use of an untested app. During a discussion Wednesday morning as election officials completed counting votes from around the state he was almost effusive about how things went.

"I talked to people ... There was only one person in the whole of yesterday who said, 'I'm not happy.' That is amazing! There's always that one, but normally it's, like, hundreds who are not happy ... with an election," said Hursti, who is Finnish. "I really like how people are happy and how smoothly everything went."

Hursti was quick to echo a comment that New Hampshire election officials have been making for many years: In voting, low-tech is often good tech.

"Paper ballots, they are important! That gives a lot of confidence, people understand what they're doing," he said. "It is a permanent mark of the vote, and it's understandable to transfer."

Tweet   @brothersjudd