Another Election, Another Snafu

November 7, 2008

By Steve Klinger.

Doña Ana County has done it again. This time there wasn’t a lengthy delay in producing vote counts (though canvassing started today and won’t wrap up until the weekend). The problem this time is absentee ballots. Some 3,844 of those that were requested by voters — nearly one third — did not get returned as of election day.

Secretary of State Mary Herrera expressed concern about the situation the week before the election, noting that most of the complaints she was getting were from Doña Ana County and concerned absentee ballots. (My daughter is currently in Houston, along with two of her friends who are in school there. All requested absentee ballots, reportedly weeks before the election but did not receive them in time. My daughter’s arrived at her address yesterday, two days after the polls closed.)

Lynn Ellins, the county’s election supervisor and now county clerk-elect, told the County Commission he will investigate and has several ideas for improvement. But I’m not sure county officials are acknowledging the seriousness of the situation. By state law, New Mexico counties must mail out absentee ballots within 24 hours after requests are received. Acting election supervisor Mario Jimenez told local media this was not done and could not get done without additional space for 100 desks and workers. The county has an election staff of about 18, according to media reports.

Even earlier this week, the county had to correct a release stating that only about 700 ballots were outstanding as of last Friday. Now Ellins is apparently suggesting that perhaps the Post Office is to blame for some delayed deliveries.

I think Herrera had it right: It’s the duty of the County Commission to deal with a crisis in the election office. The board could have appropriated emergency funds for more space or temporary hires, or put out the word through the media that volunteers were needed. Naturally, volunteers can’t do verification work but they could have assisted in processing and mailing.

The result was the disenfranchisement of several thousand voters (some of those who didn’t get absentee ballots may have come in and voted on provisional in-lieu of ballots, so the exact number is not known).

The only race that likely may have been affected was the State Senate 37 race, won by Democrat Steve Fischmann, by a margin of 505 votes, pending the canvass, which includes 624 provisional ballots from that district. Rawson might have a legal argument that the absentee ballot snafu throws the outcome into question.

In an e-mail this evening, Fischmann stopped short of claiming victory, explaining that final results will be in tomorrow. He did say, “It appears to be in the bag.”

More significant is the undeniable reality that recent presidential races have been so close that a difference of 3,000-4,000 lost votes could easily tip a state and conceivably the presidency. In 2000, Al Gore won New Mexico by less than 500 votes. The Supreme Court’s decision on the Florida recount handed the election to George W. Bush, but it could easily have been New Mexico that might have decided the election.

New Mexico needs to give every priority to a reliable and efficient election process, and no county seems to be more of a problem in that regard than Doña Ana. Isn’t it time we take measures to stop being a national embarrassment and put the necessary effort into ensuring that voters are not disenfranchised?

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