Recount Sought In New Mexico's Presidential Election

By Barry Massey
The Associated Press    30 November 2004
   SANTA FE   ?   Green and Libertarian Party presidential candidates are seeking a statewide recount of ballots in New Mexico's presidential contest that President Bush won by a 5,988-vote margin.
    Blair Bobier, a spokesman for Green Party candidate David Cobb, said Tuesday the request had been sent to the secretary of state's office.
    Cobb and Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik announced earlier this month that they intend to seek a recount in Ohio because of reports of alleged voting irregularities.
    Bobier said in a telephone interview that a recount of all precincts and voting machines in New Mexico was requested to ensure an accurate count of presidential ballots.
    "We feel that for protection of the voting process and ensuring that people have not only the right to vote but to have their vote count, that a recount is warranted," Bobier said.
    He pointed out the large number of provisional ballots in the state and he expressed reservations about the use of some electronic voting machines.
    Denise Lamb, director of the bureau of elections, confirmed the recount request had been received along with a deposit of $114,000.
    Lamb said she was trying to determine whether a larger deposit would be necessary and stressed that the full cost of a statewide recount would be much higher than the deposit.
    Under New Mexico law, a candidate seeking a recount must pay a deposit of $50 for each precinct for which a recount is demanded and a deposit of $10 for each voting machine for which a recheck is sought. There are nearly 1,500 precincts statewide.
    If no error or fraud is found that changes the outcome of the race, the applicant must pay for costs of the recount. The state or county pays if the recount changes the winner of the election.
    The campaigns of Cobb and Badnarik, for example, could be responsible for paying mileage of county sheriffs in serving summons to potentially thousands of precinct board members across New Mexico along with mileage of those precinct board workers to appear at courthouses for the recount.
    The presidential race in New Mexico was among the closest in the country.
    Bush won with 376,930 votes, or 49.8 percent; Kerry received 370,942 votes, or 49 percent, according to official returns certified by the state canvassing board.
    Badnarik received 2,382 vote, or 0.3 percent; Cobb got 1,226, or 0.2 percent.