SECRETARY’S WARNING SHOWS LACK OF PREPARATION, IRRESPONSIBILITY AND INEPTITUDE
ALBUQUERQUE, OCTOBER 30 — Secretary of State Toulouse Oliver has informed the public that due to the unprecedented number of absentee ballots and sea of early voters, it’s likely election results could take days to count. This comes despite New Mexico receiving almost $10 million in federal funds to assist with the election.
To declare this days before Election Day is shocking and shows how ill-prepared the state’s top election official really is.
Toulouse Oliver has failed the voters of New Mexico. With the federal dollars, she has had months to organize the process, hire more workers and make sure the election system ran smoothly.
The Secretary of State has always known how many ballots were requested. That’s her job. She has known for 8 months that a flood of ballots would pour into Clerks’ Offices, drop boxes and that hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans would vote early.
So far, more than 660,000 early voters have cast ballots in person or by mail.
This is another example of the Secretary of State using her office for possible political gain. In 2020 with the latest technology, we shouldn’t have to wait days to get an accurate vote count.
“It’s clear the Secretary of State has been unable to handle this election properly,” said Republican Party of New Mexico Chairman Steve Pearce. “She has taken no precautions and made no effort to ensure ballots will be counted on time. This is an insult to New Mexicans, who not only want fair and honest elections but the entire election process to be administered properly. The state got millions of dollars to help with the election, but the Secretary has been irresponsible. She should have made sure months ago that she had the manpower and the ability statewide to count votes on time.”
It was also the Secretary of State who had sanctioned clerks who have denied access to the poll challengers specified in law. These challengers are entitled to be a part of absentee ballot certification but have been excluded in some counties. The responsibility lies with the Secretary when it comes to ensuring election law is followed.
