CONCORD- The Republican recount for the New Hampshire primary began this morning in Concord.

The statewide recount has been paid by Republican presidential candidate Albert Howard and will take almost three weeks to complete.

Howard (R-Mich.) said he decided to pay $57,000 for a statewide recount because he does not trust the electronic voting machines. He was in Concord on Thursday in a suit and tie watching intently as the recount took place.

"I believe the Constitution says we should have paper ballots and we don't with these electronic machines," Howard said in an interview."Canada has paper ballots and it takes them four hours to complete the tally, yet the United States can't."

Howard also said he would not pass judgment on the process until the recount is completed.

Deputy Secretary of State David Scalon said "it's a part of the process; hopefully we walk away from this having more confidence in the process."

Dennis Kucinich had challenged the Democratic primary results but the recount was stopped when Kucinich's campaign did not pay to finish the recount. Kucinich dropped out of the Democratic presidential race on Thursday.