Task force takes on state election laws  
By Julie Ann Grimm The New Mexican     December 15, 2005

Amid lingering suspicions from the 2004 elections , New Mexico officials are trying to address issues of secrecy, accuracy and transparency in vote counting.

A task force that includes lawmakers and county clerks Wednesday finalized recommendations for how the state should clean up election laws approved by the Legislature in a rushed session early this year.

It was the group?s last chance before lawmakers convene Jan. 17 to recommend changes that would be implemented in time for the primary election in June.

But because there are so many needed improvements that committee members and public activists have identified, the group decided to continue evaluating the election code after the Legislative session ends.

?There are things that won?t be addressed during the session that we need to work on,? said Rep. Ed Sandoval, D-Albuquerque , task force co-chairman .

Included in two bills that will be introduced next month is a request to give county clerks until Dec. 31, 2007, to comply with the state?s new requirements for ?voter verified and auditable paper trail,? unless money becomes available sooner. The current rule calls for compliance by the end of 2006.

Chief among the concerns of a dozen county clerks who serve on the task force is getting help with the additional costs of complying with new state laws. ?Implementing all of this ... is going to put an undue burden on the county clerks,? said Sen. Dianna Duran, R- Tularosa, a task-force member.

Only one voting system approved by the state and federal governments is considered voter-verified , where voters can confirm their ballots were cast as intended. That system is only used by 19 of the state?s 33 counties. Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron said Wednesday that she expects many counties will need to spend thousands of dollars to buy machines that meet new standards.

Another current rule requires county clerks to send every registered voter an identification card before each primary election . The task force is recommending the cards be mailed instead before the general election , which means the cost will be part of the next fiscal year?s budget.

The so-called paper trail has been a hot-button topic among reform activists, and the task force is recommending that the wording of the law treat the ?trails? as ballots. Many counties still use mostly paper ballots for voting. In others, such as Santa Fe County, even though electronic machines have been used for more than a decade on Election Day, more than 60 percent of voters cast paper ballots during early or absentee voting.

The task force also recommended that some vote-counting practices that changed under the new rules be reversed. For example, the March reforms allowed voters who received absentee ballots to return them to polling places rather than the county clerk. Curry County Clerk Mario Trujillo said that will mean delays in reporting absentee totals because ballots from polling places arrive at the clerks? offices late on election night. Under a proposed change, absentee ballots would once again be due to the county clerk no later than 5 p.m. on Election Day.

Advocates for voting reform attended many of the task-force meetings; about 80 people were in the audience for the beginning of Wednesday?s meeting. Many left when the task force decided to hold off on further discussions about voting machines.

Terry Riley, a Bernalillo County resident, said he was grateful for the work that had been done, but had hoped the task force would definitively lead the way to a system voters could depend on. Riley said the code as written has ?unfortunate gaps.? ?I am disappointed they didn?t get handled here,? he said.

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.

ELECTION CODE RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommended changes to the election code from a bipartisan task force of lawmakers, county clerks and advocates, include:

Restoring a provision that required absentee ballots be delivered to the county clerk no later than 5 p.m. on Election Day.

Giving county clerks another year to comply with the state?s new requirements for ?voter verified and auditable paper trail? unless money becomes available sooner.

Repealing a provision that would allow voters to vote absentee through e-mail . Imposing penalties on third-party registrants who fraudulently use or collect voter-registration certificates.