The secretary of state asked the courts to step in, saying the county does not have the legal authority to change election protocols. The post-election canvassing process is a key component of how we maintain our high levels of election integrity in New Mexico, and the Otero County Commission is flaunting that process by appeasing unfounded conspiracy theories and potentially nullifying the votes of every Otero County voter who participated in the primary." Don't see your race listed? Griffin was previously convicted in federal court of a misdemeanor for entering restricted U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, without going inside the building. On Monday, Otero County Commissioner Vickie Marquardt spoke about the support the commissioners have received for not certifying the election results. The 2022 Primary Election took place on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 and county canvassing boards have ten days from the election to certify the results (NMSA 1-13-13). Commissioners voted not to certify last week's. Federal courts | Navigate to New Mexico 2022 local elections overviews: } else { | Its unfortunate that we had to take action to make sure Otero County voters were not disenfranchised and it is a shame that the Commission pushed our state to the brink of a crisis by their actions., New Mexico's Supreme Court orders county commission to certify vote. Election Results Homepage. New Mexico's county-level presidential election results, 2012-2020 Showing New Mexico's 33 counties shaded to reflect their voting patterns in the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections. How to vote | }); On Wednesday, New Mexicos Supreme Court granted an emergency petition by the secretary of state demanding that the Otero commissioners do their job and approve some 7,300 votes from the primary, where races such as the countys only state House seat and county sheriff hung in the balance. Donald Trump announced his 2024 presidential campaign shortly after the midterms. In the hearing Friday, he said that he and his fellow commissioners had no other choice but to follow the law, but that they needed to work together to address what he described as the potential for fraudulent activity., This is the start of the fight, Schwebach said. What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline? , VIDEO: Giant I-40 light poles sway in strong ABQ, Taxidermy birds used to make drones at New Mexico, PHOTOS: Storm leaves parts of state covered in snow, PHOTOS: Winter storm moves through NM leaving snow, PHOTOS: Storm causes snowy, icy roads across New, Map: New Mexico Veterans Monuments and Memorials, 13 Broadcast Pl SW, Albuquerque, NM, 87104, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. A Democrat has not won a seat on the county commission since 1994. $("div.vis_widget_title").each(function(index) { How to run for office | }); The governing commission in Otero County refused to certify the local results of the state's June 7 primary because of the equipment, in what was seen as another instance of how the falsehoods spread by former President Donald Trump and his allies have infected elections and threaten the democratic process. State Supreme Court orders Otero County to certify election. But that hasn't stopped the false claims, particularly those about Dominion machines. ", Trump ignored that, and his allies persisted in attacking Dominion. The New Mexico Supreme Court ordered county commissioners in Otero County to certify the election results of the June 7 primary after they refused to do so, having cited distrust of Dominion Voting Systems vote-tallying machines. He has also said that the machines, which are not linked to the internet, could be hacked. (A bipartisan commission recertified the machines just last year.) It is headquartered in Albuquerque and led by Chair Steve Pearce, Vice Chair Frank Trambley, Secretary Mari Trujillo Spinelli, and Treasurer David Chavez.. Its about protecting donors.. Commissioners voted not to certify last weeks results and ordered a hand recount of ballots claiming there were problems with the voting machines. And this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential for disrupting American elections. } I dont have specific examples that I can point to other than the recent audit in the canvas and the uncertainty of what that produced. 18 Chapin outlasts Parkland 56-53 to punch third straight Sweet 16 ticket, Wendys chili to be sold in cans at grocery stores, The Grinch is getting a sequel, plus other books, These beaches are best of the best in US: report, 3 MFD employees terminated in Tyre Nichols case, Paul Pelosis attacker calls into TV station from, 7 dead, suspect IDd in Half Moon Bay mass shooting, FBI launches Spanish social media account in El Paso, Democratic lawmakers back special counsel to probe, Greece train collision kills 26, at least 85 injured, Scholarship opportunities for Borderland students, Waskom ISD to allow armed staff on campus, War in Ukraine: Five common questions about Russias, Former Mexican top cop found guilty of distributing, Jill Biden to highlight drought, empowering women, N. 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State and local courts | Marchant is among a group of "America First" candidates seeking to oversee elections while denying the outcome of the last one. All Rights Reserved. 2022-2023 Amended Polling Place Resolution, Surveys - Sorted by Township, Range & Section. Elected Officials Clerk & Recorder Elections Elections Clerk & Recorder Elections Motor Vehicle Information Recording Election Clerk: Holly Huerta-Hudak Phone: 719-383-3024 Fax: 719-383-3026 Check your voter registration, download voter forms, and find your legislators here. Election certifications from county commissioners are required in a primary by New Mexico law for those candidates who won their partys nomination to be on the ballot for the upcoming general election in November. UPDATE (June 15, 2022 7:02 p.m. VoterInfobyState_Resized = true; SANTA FE, N.M. New Mexico's secretary of state on Tuesday asked the state Supreme Court to order the Republican-led commission of rural Otero County to certify primary election results after . Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. } The commissioners voted to remove ballot boxes and voted to get rid of all dominion voting machines last week. New Mexico's Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the county commissioners in rural Otero County to do their jobs and certify election results, two days after they refused, citing unsubstantiated . In his remarks, Griffin refused to back down from assertions that the machines were not secure or apologize for leading a charge against a normally straightforward procedural vote that caused a week-long uproar. | Can a divided government make progress? For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Elections in 2023 | Our board members are Maria Runyon (D) Mark Perusse (R) Carrie Ludington (D) Contact Us Robyn Holmes Otero County Clerk Dominion has filed defamation lawsuits against various Trump associates and conservative media organizations, including Fox News. Vulnerabilities do exist, as with any technology, but election officials work to identify and fix them. In a statement, Olivers office said, the commission illegally refused to certify the results, potentially disenfranchising every Otero County voter who legally and securely cast a ballot and harming candidates seeking to have their names on the General Election ballot.. A controversy over certifying election results in Otero County that made national headlines ended quietly on Friday with a 2-1 vote in favor of certifying the results. Kari Lake was unflinchingly loyal to Trump. Otero County Commissioner Vickie Marquardt, one of the three members, expressed "huge" concerns with the voting machines during the commission's vote Monday but did not specify what prompted those concerns. } else { The company which was also involved in a controversial recount in Arizona was aided by a group of volunteers calling themselves the New Mexico Audit Force, who went door to door attempting to verify the 2020 results. Those steps, widely believed to be illegal, came at the urging of Cuoy Griffin, an Otero County commissioner who was convicted in March of illegally entering restricted U.S. Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6 attack. Remember who youre elected by. Otero County Voter Records are documents that list information about a registered voters in Otero County, New Mexico. So there is a certain question about how much responsibility everybody in the process has to say we dont want to use these machines if they have these issues, said Pineda. Griffin, the founder of Cowboys for Trump, spoke by phone from Washington, where he had been sentenced earlier Friday to 14 days in jail on one count of entering a restricted area during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. } else { Couy Griffin is another member of the commission who voted against certifying the election results. All rights reserved. Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? if (document.readyState === 'complete') { function resizeChevron() { My vote to remain a no isnt based on any evidence, its not based on any facts, its only based on my gut feeling and my own intuition, and thats all I need, Griffin said. That included pushback from his inner circle to the claims about Dominion voting systems, which are used by jurisdictions in 27 states. widget_load_check_jquery(); Then her campaign unraveled. If you would liketo mail your ballot for the upcoming election, please place the correct amount of postage on your return envelope after you have signed and dated it in the proper place, seal it, and mail it within the first week that you receive it from the Clerk's Office. Michelle Lujan Grishams choosing. Was early voting available to all voters? Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. All rights reserved. Bernalillo | Catron | Chaves | Cibola | Colfax | Curry | De Baca | Dona Ana | Eddy | Grant | Guadalupe | Harding | Hidalgo | Lea | Lincoln | Los Alamos | Luna | McKinley | Mora | Otero | Quay | Rio Arriba | Roosevelt | Sandoval | San Juan | San Miguel | Santa Fe | Sierra | Socorro | Taos | Torrance | Union | Valencia, What's on my ballot? OTERO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - Monday, the Colorado Department of Transportation began work on a bridge project along Highway 109, just north of La Junta. Otero County planned to start a committee, Marquardt said, with other elected officials, state lawmakers and representatives from Dominion and that the company still had some tough questions to answer.. State law gives county officials no more than 10 days after an election to certify results. 17 Canyon Randall ends Riversides season, Riverside boys ready for Canyon Randall in Regionals, UTEP football begins preparations for 2023 season, Locomotive FC signs Luis Moreno, becomes clubs youngest, Lillard posts 71 points, 13 3s, then gets drug test, Animal shelters compete to raise funds, awareness, Emaciated horses rescued after found without food,, Star on Mountain knocked out by high winds, Socorro opens new communications/dispatch center, Diabetes, Now What? On the New Mexico Secretary of State website, it says Secretary of State Files Lawsuit Against Otero County Commission for Illegal Actions to Disenfranchise 2022 Primary Election Voters and Harm Primary Candidates.. "I have huge concerns with these voting machines," Otero County Commissioner Vickie Marquardt said Monday as she and her two fellow commissioners - all Republicans - voted unanimously. Facing possible criminal charges and removal from office, Otero County Commissioners Gerald Matherly and Vickie Marquardt voted to certify the county's primary election results, while Commissioner Couy Griffin [] Wednesday afternoon, the state Supreme Court handed down an order telling the commission to meet to approve the report of the canvass of the returns and declare the results no later than June 17. Our Board of Registration is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 beginning at 10:00 a.m. at the Otero County Clerks Office. Results will become available after 7 PM on Election Day, November 2, 2021 and will be posted as they are received from the county offices. Have you ever wondered about running for office? Otero is reliably Republican, a place where Donald Trump won the presidential race by 26 points and Republican Vickie Pruiett Marquardt defeated her Democratic opponent in the County Commission District 3 race by even more, although the District 53 House of Representatives' race featuring Democrat Willie Madrid and Republican Ricky Little did We have not had to escalate the process for any other political committee, Vigil said. Election experts say the Otero County case is a warning of what could happen if candidates who repeat electoral falsehoods and misinformation gain responsibility for overseeing voting. Apply today! The county seat is Alamogordo . Griffin, who helped found a group called Cowboys for Trump, has adopted the former president's baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud. Chapin outlasts Parkland to go to 3rd straight Sweet, Crash in Central El Paso sends 3 people to hospital, Round table on public safety after high-profile, Bryant family gets $28.85M over crash photos, Nearly half of US murders going unsolved, data show, 9 day forecast: Winter storm may produce snow this, Tuesday Forecast: Warm and windy conditions, 9 day Forecast: Strong back-to-back winds this week. The effort prompted a warning from state officials, with Oliver dubbing it a vigilante audit. Eventually the audit fell apart; a settlement agreement that EchoMail reached with the county showed that the company found No Election Fraud as a result of their services.. The county commissioners appeared to take his words to heart. All the data is available to you you can see where ghost voters were confirmed, said Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin. Clements led off the public comments. Published: 11/03/2020 Byline: Hart Youre not elected by the secretary of state, youre elected by the people of Torrance County.. The support has been great. VOTING MACHINE FEARS PROMPT NEW MEXICO COMMISSION TO VOTE AGAINST CERTIFYING PRIMARY RESULTS. NEW MEXICO (KRQE) - The state Supreme Court is ordering the Otero County Commission to move forward with certifying primary election results. I will be no use to the people of Otero County while in jail, Marquardt said. June 15, 2022 08:49 PM T he New Mexico Supreme Court ordered county commissioners in Otero County to certify the election results of the June 7 primary after they refused to do so, having. "We have the potential to see this spread and have a domino effect.". Barr said he found them to be "among the most disturbing allegations" because they were "made in such a sensational way that they obviously were influencing a lot of people." Clements was fired from his university post last year after refusing to comply with coronavirus measures. State legislature | chevron.addClass('fa-chevron-up'); That came just hours after Griffin was sentenced in federal court to 14 days in jail, time served, and a fine of $3,000 for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Griffin said he was not questioning any particular result of the election but wanted to make a point that the state must respect local officials. All we wanted to do is look inside at the technology in the Dominion machines and make sure they dont have a modem that hooks up to the internet. Jury weighs whether Cowboys for Trump flouted campaign law, (Gemunu Amarasinghe | AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File), Chase starts in Edgecombe County and ends with crash in Halifax County, Ghislaine Maxwells appeals arguments mirror earlier claims, Carolina Camera: Submit Photos and Videos. Toulouse Oliver has also filed a lawsuit against the commissioners following Mondays meeting. Happy Voting! chevron = $(this).find('i.fa-pull-right'); } if ($('#vis_xs_indicator').is(':hidden')){ Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters? Ballot measures, Who represents me? Included in those results was the revelation that of the 22% of the County canvassed, 41% of those had issues, including 30% who didn't live at the address (while 40% of those voted in the election), 4% of doors knocked were "ghost votes," and 2% of the votes were dropped. Will you receive Social Security checks when you qualify? 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Otero County, New Mexico, elections, 2022, Presidential election results by county, 2012-2020, Click here to use Ballotpedia's sample ballot, New Mexico Twelfth Judicial District Court Division 2, Ballot access for major and minor party candidates, List of absentee/mail-in ballot request websites by state, List of official voter registration websites by state, https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Otero_County,_New_Mexico,_elections,_2022&oldid=8903211, Conflicts in school board elections, 2021-2022, Special Congressional elections (2023-2024), 2022 Congressional Competitiveness Report, State Executive Competitiveness Report, 2022, State Legislative Competitiveness Report, 2022, Partisanship in 2022 United States local elections, **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. His previous projects include "Black Hair Defined" and the "Black Obituary Project.". But Griffin has resisted pressure to register the group as a political committee, including filing an unsuccessful petition to the 10th District Court of Appeals. 2020 Otero County General Election results;PDF will open in a new window. Among the most prominent advocates for this is Jim Marchant, a former state lawmaker who on Tuesday was selected as the Republican nominee for secretary of state in Nevada. 2022 General November 8, 2022. He has explained his refusal to certify by claiming that the machines hardware has not been updated since 2011. I think the reason the challenge in Otero County is difficult is because these commissioners have known these machines were going to be used, these machines were not brought in to specifically to do this election. Here are the top 10 2024 presidential candidates for the Republicans and Democrats. This month, they voted to begin hand-counting election returns, remove secure ballot boxes and stop using the states voting systems, which Oliver said this week was illegal. But at least on the surface it doesnt seem like theres really a clear or valid reason to challenge these results, said Pineda. chevron.addClass('fa-chevron-down'); Otero County Courthouse 13 W 3rd St #210 La Junta, CO 81050 _____ Trump easily won the Republican stronghold in 2020. A recent advisory issued by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency highlighted certain vulnerabilities discovered in Dominion voting systems and provided recommendations to election officials. "This is yet another example of how lies about Dominion have damaged our company and diminished the public's faith in elections," a spokesperson for Dominion said in response to the Otero County panel's vote. In court testimony, State Elections Director Mandy Vigil said that state regulators typically negotiate with political groups to encourage registration without seeking sanctions. widget_load_check_dom() Contacted Monday, Griffin expressed concern that registering Cowboys for Trump as a political group could lead to reprisals against donors. "Cowboys for Trump" founder Couy Griffin broadcasting live on Facebook from Capitol steps during January 6, 2021 demonstration. if ($(this).next('.vis_widget_table').is(":hidden")) { But it also reflects how an established effort to. On Tuesday, New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, a Democrat, sued the three-member Otero County Board of Commissioners, where officials armed with right-wing conspiracy theories have refused to certify the countys primary election results. Georgia runoff election: Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D) won re-election in the Georgia Senate runoff, defeating Republican challenger Herschel Walker and giving Democrats a 51st seat in the Senate. chevron.removeClass('fa-chevron-up'); Theyre putting it to use here and now. The reality is there are a lot of people that do not have faith in our voting system, that is the key takeaway, he said. I cannot do that to those people. The Secretary of States Office also requested the New Mexico Attorney Generals Office open a criminal investigation into the actions of the board as Toulouse Oliver argued they violated commissioners duties of office. I dont think thats what the voters of Otero County want is to have us replaced.. } Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Home Government Departments Clerk Election Information Election Information County Precinct Maps Alamogordo Precinct Map (PDF) View the Alamogordo Precinct Map. Then, on Monday, voted against certifying the primary election results. chevron.removeClass('fa-chevron-down'); $("div.vis_widget_title").click(function(){ This as the three commissioners voted against approving the results on Monday. If we dont stay in office, then no one will be fighting for the ranchers and thats what were here to do. Public policy. At an hours-long hearing before the Otero County commission on May 9, David Clements urged the commissioners to call an emergency session, declare a vote of no confidence in the vote tally results and demand a hand count. Millions of people will be heading somewhere sunny in the coming weeks, trading winter storms for sunshine but not all spring break getaways are created equal. The deadline for county certification is Friday. Commissioners in a second county, Torrance, who had delayed certification earlier this week, voted to approve the vote totals in a contentious public hearing Friday morning. What were the early voting start and end dates? OTERO COUNTY, NM - Otero County's primary election results have not yet been certified and the deadline is on Friday.This as the three commissioners voted against approving the results on Monday. chevron.addClass('fa-chevron-down'); New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said the commissioners were violating the law and their oaths of office in refusing to certify the vote. Why Herschel Walker might be the most embarrassing 2022 loss for Trump. It's a ruling that thrust the state into the national. The states attorney general, Hector Balderas, had said Friday that the commissioners must comply with the rule of law or face legal action and potentially be removed from office. Check your voter registration, download voter forms, and find your legislators here. } After pressure from both New Mexico State leaders and the New Mexico Supreme Court, Otero County commissioners voted 2 to 1 to certify the results of the 2022 primary election despite their past refusal to do so a move government officials said ran afoul of state law. By law, county commissions in New Mexico are required to approve the primary results by June 17 unless they can point to a specific problem that occurred during voting for that election. She said she was voting yes after threats from the New Mexico Secretary of States Office that commissioners could be jailed if they continued to refuse to certify the election. A jury will consider this week whether the support group . New Mexico's secretary of state asked the state Supreme Court to step in and order the county to certify the votes, and the high court did so on Wednesday. The commissioners in the conservative, pro-Trump county could point to no actual problems with the Dominion equipment. Otero County School District Maps Otero County School District Maps Read more about race and ethnicity in the census. The suit asks the state Supreme Court to compel the commission, led entirely by Republicans in a largely conservative county, to certify the votes. A little more than 7,300 Otero County voters cast ballots in the primary, according to the secretary of state's office. if (window.jQuery) { There is no evidence of widespread fraud or manipulation of voting equipment in the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden. The vote came Friday during an emergency meeting held after the board declined to certify the results at a Monday special meeting. Her office may levy a criminal referral with the state attorney general, which could lead to the three-member board being charged with contempt of court if they do not follow the court's orders, a spokesperson told the Washington Post. But over the last week, Otero County commissioners. house for rent in suffolk county, ny by owner. Griffin, a stonemason and former rodeo cowboy for Disneyland Paris, has insisted that his objections are not partisan. Dont miss reporting and analysis from the Hill and the White House. "This is terra nova its [uncharted] territory, said Alex Curtas, a representative for Toulouse Oliver. County Commission Chairwoman and District 3 Commissioner Vickie Marquardt said County Clerk Robyn Holmes allayed the concerns about deceased voters. ET):This story has been updated to reflect the New Mexico Supreme Court's ruling on Wednesday ordering the Otero County Board of Commissioners to certify the June 7 primary election results by June 17.