A statewide count showed 452,031 “yes” votes in favor of the amendment and 237,105 “no” votes. unofficial results It was released Thursday afternoon by the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office. This translates into 65.59 percent in favor of the amendment, which is 1.07 points behind the threshold required for the amendment to be accepted.

If the scoreboard was no more than 1 percentage point away from the two-thirds threshold, then State Law would allow voters to request a hand recount; That means New Hampshire narrowly avoided the possibility of a labor-intensive statewide recount on this question.

While hand recounts are common when a particular contest or question is decided by a very narrow margin, some candidates in New Hampshire have begun moving forward with recounts. already open somehow they lost examine further vote counting devices and election procedures.

Republican State Rep. Robert J. Lynn of Windham, one of the lawmakers advocating the constitutional amendment, served as a judge on the New Hampshire Supreme Court until 2019, when he was constitutionally required to retire due to his age.

Lynn, now 75, said before the election that he knew many experienced judges from across the ideological spectrum who remained mentally sharp even past the age of 70 and would prefer to continue working.

“You probably have to have some gray hair to be a good judge anyway,” he said.

But some voters said the mandatory judicial retirement age was a useful tool.

Tom Palangas, 29, an undeclared voter from Weare who abstained from voting in the presidential election because he was unhappy with his options in the race, said the proposed constitutional change was one of the reasons he decided to vote.

Palangas, who works as a land surveyor, said he voted against increasing the mandatory judicial retirement age and believes the limit should be even earlier. He addressed public frustrations about the ages of President Biden and former president Donald J. Trump.

“You can’t be president when you’re too young, but it looks like you can be president when you’re over 80,” he said shortly after voting.

Pre-election polls had signaled the constitutional amendment would likely fail, but the final tally released Thursday was much closer than the polls suggested.

More than a third of voters told pollsters on the final weekend before the election that they had heard nothing about the change, according to the survey. voting By the University of New Hampshire Research Center. Only 27 percent of survey respondents said they planned to vote in favor of the amendment.

If voters had approved the change, all five current justices on the New Hampshire Supreme Court would have remained eligible until early 2031. Because voters appear to have rejected the amendment, two justices, Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi and James P. Bassett, are on track to reach the age limit in 2026. Vacancies are filled by the governor and the Executive Board.

Globe staff member Amanda Gokee contributed to this report.

Steven Porter can be reached at [email protected]. follow him @reporterporter.