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NOTICE: This opinion is subject to motions for rehearing under Rule 22 as well as formal revision before publication in the New Hampshire Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter, Supreme Court of New Hampshire, One Charles Doe Drive, Concord, New Hampshire 03301, of any editorial errors in order that corrections may be made before the opinion goes to press. Errors may be reported by E-mail at the following address: reporter@courts.state.nh.us. Opinions are available on the Internet by 9:00 a.m. on the morning of their release. The direct address of the court's home page is: http://www.courts.state.nh.us/supreme. THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE ___________________________ Grafton No. 2006-542 JOHN J. BABIARZ v. TOWN OF GRAFTON Submitted: May 23, 2007 Opinion Issued: July 20, 2007 John J. Babiarz, by brief, pro se. Mitchell & Bates, P.A., of Laconia (Walter L. Mitchell and Laura A. Spector on the brief), for the defendant. DUGGAN, J. The plaintiff, John J. Babiarz, appeals an order of the Superior Court (Burling, J.), dismissing his petition for injunctive relief against the defendant, the Town of Grafton (Town). The court ruled that the plaintiff did not have standing to pursue a claim under RSA 669:35 (1996). We affirm. I. Background The superior court found the following facts. On March 14, 2006, the Town held its annual town meeting during which citizens, including the plaintiff, cast votes on various warrant articles and in an election for planning board members. At some point after the voting concluded, the Town discovered that an error had occurred, resulting in forty-seven ballots being counted twice. Thus, a recount was held on March 25, 2006.

In connection with the recount, the ballots cast the night of the town meeting were placed first into the machine used to count them on that night, and then into a second machine that was used to ascertain whether the first had been working properly. After it was determined that the first machine was working properly, a hand recount was undertaken for contests in which the margin of victory was less than ten percent, including a race for a seat on the planning board and the vote on warrant article 22, a proposed appropriation to purchase a new compactor for the Town's recycling center. The hand recount was deemed the official result for purposes of the planning board election and article 22. For the remaining contests, the machine tabulations from March 14th stood as the official results. Dissatisfied with the results for the planning board election and article 22, the plaintiff filed a petition for injunctive relief in superior court pursuant to RSA 669:35, seeking to have the court order the Town to use the machine count from the night of the town meeting as the official tally, instead of the hand recount from March 25th. He also asked the court to enjoin the declared winner of the planning board election from being sworn into office. The superior court dismissed the petition, holding that the plaintiff lacked standing to pursue it since he was not a "person aggrieved" within the meaning of RSA 669:35. This appeal followed. Citing the State and Federal Constitutions, the plaintiff contends that the phrase "person aggrieved" should be construed broadly to include him because he "has shown an interest in and pays taxes towards the results of [the town meeting, and is] subject to decisions made by elected officials who participated in or were elected at the annual meeting." The Town counters that the defendant is not a "person aggrieved" because he has not established that his alleged injury from the recount is any different from that of any other voter in the town. II. Discussion Generally, election contests are based upon statutory

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